White
by Imyoshi
Summary: When Jaune Arc was just a small child, his mother gave him a tiny seed to grow and nurture as a way to learn responsibility. His father gave him a useless Dust Shard to study power and focus. Only problem, the little Arc had wrongly misinterpreted their lessons and ended up creating Remnant's one and only Dust-Dust Fruit.
1. White

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing of RWBY.

* * *

 **White**

 **By: Imyoshi**

"Oh, Jaune!"

A boy no older than seven-years-old poked his head out from underneath his Pumpkin Pete bed covers. Wondering silently why his father was calling him and interrupting his playtime with his imaginary wolf friend Fenrir. Dinner wasn't for another few hours and he knew his sisters were busy totting around their grandpa to not have broken anything. So what could his parents possibly want? Could it be he forgot about something? Only two people knew the answer.

"Coming!" Jaune yelled a minute later before looking under his covers. "I'll be back soon, okay Fenrir? Don't go anywhere!"

He jumped down from his bed and his tiny feet led him to the living room where his parents were waiting with their hands hidden behind their backs. Jaune, of course, didn't notice this, being seven and all, so he missed the way their smiles blossom when he stopped in front of them, all impatient and need to get back to his friend. Ignatius and Julian Arc had to stop themselves from laughing at Jaune's adorable, frustrated expression.

"There you are!" his father bellowed, poking his son on the chest. "What took you? Battling dastardly Grimm in your room again?"

"No!" Jaune blushed. "Me and Fenrir were guarding our castle against the evil Grimm Queen. And I need to hurry before he's captured. He needs his leader!"

His father took the opening and leveled with his son, kneeling eye-to-eye. "Ah, that's all good, Jaune, all very good indeed, but speaking of leaders, your mother and I finally think it's high time we teach you about responsibility, seeing as you want to be a Huntsmen and all. So, we each have a special gift to give you that'll help you become a better leader."

His eyes went wide. "Really!"

"Absolutely!" his mother added, kneeling beside her husband with her hand no longer hidden. She held out her palm for Jaune to see a tiny little seed resting in the dead center, all meek and small. "I want you to take this seed and do you know what else I want you to do with it?"

"Eat it?"

"No, silly." Julian laughed, placing the seed into Jaune's hand. "I want you to go outside and plant this seed. And I want you to water it every day and help it grow until bears a beautiful fruit for you to eat."

"How come?"

Such a sweet boy. "So you can learn some responsibility. Think of the seed as someone you're leading, if you don't take care of the seed, it will die. And you wouldn't want the poor thing to die, would you?"

"No!" Jaune shouted, pressing the seed closely to his heart. "I'll take good care of it! I promise! No one's gonna kick the bucket as long as Jaune Arc's around!"

His mother smiled brighter before ruffling up her son's hair. Ignatius then took his lead and grabbed Jaune's attention, bringing out his hidden palm for his son to see. On it was a white Dust shard. A simple shard with no actual Dust properties and considered useless by everyone. The perfect stone to teach his son about the aspect of power and what happened when power was no longer available. Not to mention they did have this neat effect when they came in contact with Aura.

"This here is a Dust shard. I want you to take it and make it glow. The brighter and warmer the glow, the stronger you've grown." He demonstrated by adding some of his own Aura into the shard and it glowed brightly in response. "Just like that seed, I want to see it grow and turn into something truly mighty!" He dropped the shard into Jaune's other hand and his son stubbornly frowned. "And don't worry, the Aura trapped inside that Dust shard will naturally seep out. So it can't hurt ya."

Jaune Arc knew he was not the shiniest tool in the weapon locker, but even he knew _something_ about Dust shards. "But dad! I need Aura to do that! And I don't have Aura?"

"That's true! But we can fix that!" Ignatius grinned, grabbing Jaune's shoulder as his son's eyes went wide with childlike recognition. "For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all. Infinite in distance and unbound by death, I release your soul, and by my shoulder, protect thee."

Jaune felt a slight burning sensation develop in the center of his chest before it died. A tiny light shined off him and he could feel a tug deep within his soul. Then the sensation was gone and he was left standing there with a seed in one hand and a white Dust shard in the other. Both his parents seem utterly pleased with his Aura and made a show for it by pinching his cheeks.

"Arg!" Jaune swiped their hands away. "Stop that!"

His father pointed at the Dust shard. "Ha-ha! Well? Let's see what you got! Try using some of that Aura of yours!"

Forgetting about the evil pinching, Jaune smiled brightly and tried all his might to get a hang of Aura. It took a while, about ten minutes in fact until a small glow got born inside the middle of the shard. It was very light and hardly noticeable unless someone was directly looking for it, and even then they could barely see it when they narrowed their eyes. Easy enough, Jaune was disappointed. Compared to his father's glow, it was nothing. Almost zero.

"Aw! I can barely see it!" Jaune pouted, folding his arms in a stubborn way. His father merely laughed and placed his enormous palm over Jaune's head, obscuring his vision.

"Well, what did you expect, my boy? You're just a youngling! Give yourself a few more years and it'll grow! Of course, you need to practice."

"Just like this seed..." Cooed his mother affectionately with a little poke to his palm. Her smile made her little boy smile. "If you take the time and show it love, it'll grow and reward you with a pleasant fruit. But you must be patient and never give up and always love it."

Jaune gripped the tiny seed in his hand and pondered over the words with all the might a seven-year could. The small glow from the shard had already died, but he wasn't concerned, too busy taking his parent's words to heart. His childlike imagination overpowered rationality and everything else, allowing his mouth to beat his brain to the punch.

"I promise to never give up on you! I give you my word!" Jaune smiled at the tiny little seed, already thinking of the delicious fruit it would bear. "Promise!"

He quickly ran outside to their backyard to bury the seed, leaving his parents behind to watch their son take his first step to becoming a responsible person. To teach their son responsibility they gave him a task that was both rewarding, learning, and even a little bit enjoyable. The perfect lesson for a small child, but what the Arc's didn't know was that Jaune took his family's name very seriously, even more so than candy and his grandpa's stories.

The fire in his soul burned far brighter than even their own.

...

When Jaune ran outside, he spent the last hour looking for the perfect spot to plant his seed, taking time to check if the dirt had a lot of sun and wasn't too far away from the house, making sure it was fertile and dark enough, and other boring stuff he learned growing up in a household as big as his. He knew from having watched some of his sisters and his mother tending to their own garden that plants needing sunlight and water and very dark dirt.

Finally, after finding the perfect spot near his room's window, Jaune dug up a hole with his own two hands before dropping the little seed inside. It was barely a few inches, but enough for the plant to grow. There was plenty of dirt and sun for the seed and he promised to water the little guy every day. He then patted the dirt a few more times and ran back to the house to get some water for his new friend.

He came back with a full glass of water. "You must be thirsty? Don't worry, I gotcha!" Jaune childishly dropped all the water over the patch of dirt, taking immense joy in the way the water got soaked up. "I can't wait to tell Fenrir about this!"

Leaving his seed to collect some much-needed sunlight, he reached his room and jumped under the covers to find his imaginary friend. "Guess what, Fenrir! Mom and dad gave me this seed and it's my r-r-respon-respon—duty! It's my _duty_ to watch over it and make it grow! Oh... yeah!" Jaune remembered. "Dad unlocked my Aura and gave me this Dust thingy to practice with. Here! Watch!"

It took a while, and he hated every second of it, but a tiny glow peeked into the darkness under his covers, banishing some of the darkness away. No one was under the covers but him, however, his imagination filled in the gaps. Within the tight, confined space, he felt a pleasant warmth surround him. It took the little Arc only a few seconds to find out where the heat was coming from.

"This must be what my dad was talking about. It's... so warm?" His brain ticked a mile a minute. "Plants need warmth, right?" Silence. "Right! That's why they have the sun! So they won't get cold."

Glad he solved his own riddle, Jaune continued his quest to defeat the evil Grimm Queen and save the world from her rule. Occasionally, he pretended the white Dust shard was a sword of Aura and swung it around in the dark. His trusty companion Fenrir remained closed by and aided in the Queen's defeat and just in time for dinner, and then bedtime where his mother tucked him gently in.

"Night, baby." Julian kissed him on the forehead and shut the door with a soft _click_.

A few moments later and he almost fell asleep when he yawned into his cozy, _warm_ blanket before he sat straight up in a clear panic.

It was cold! Really, _really_ cold! Just thinking about how cold the night was made his brain hurt. But more importantly, his heart felt heavy and his innocence came forth at full power at the thought of _someone_ else being cold.

"Uh oh!" Jaune threw off his covers and jumped off his bed to look out his window where the sun was no longer hanging around, but the useless moon. The cool air tickled his nose and he fought the urge to shiver. "My little buddy! He's going to freeze!"

Opening his window, he struggled to lean out the window, barely able to support his own body climbing up the two-foot height. His onesie ended up getting dirty from landing on the dirt, but he couldn't focus on that or his mother's probable onslaught the next day for getting his clothes dirty, the only thing registering in his childish mind was the thought of his buddy freezing in the chilly night air.

Running up to where he buried the seed, he touched the dirt and _gasped_ loudly when he found the dirt cold, his seven-year-old mind not knowing the seed was perfectly fine. Jaune almost ran his hands to scope the seed out and protect it but didn't when his fingers almost clipped the dirt. He couldn't! Seeds needed dirt to survive. It couldn't stay in his room where it was warm and cozy!

Jaune panicked, shaking his head in frustration. "What am I gonna do? What am I gonna do?"

Running in circles for a while, he suddenly stopped and jumped back into his room, climbing back outside a minute later with a large blanket. He tossed it over the dirt patch and sighed when the crisis was adverted until a nearby wind came by and blew the blanket back into the little Arc's face.

"Ugh! Can't. Breath." Clutching the covers, Jaune finally managed to rip them away from his face, glowering at the bunny logo. "Curse you, Pumpkin Pete! Your cereal stinks, anyways!"

Grumbling to himself, he threw his blanket back inside his room, filing away that plan as a failure. Of course, no had to know that. Meaning his track record was still spotless and no one could prove anything. Not even his mom. She was not _that_ good.

Still. "What am I gonna do now?"

Feeling another wind pass by, he shivered and sighed with a defeated frown. He looked over to the patch of dirt and was surprised to see the white Dust shard lying on the floor. Must've gotten stuck in his blanket and then fallen out when the wind forced it to cover his face. Not one to litter, he was about to reach out and toss back in his room, when another heavier wind passed by and forced him to shut his eyes and wrap his arms around his body to keep his body heat in check.

Although, when he opened his eyes again, he was extremely surprised to see the Dust shard still in place, partially buried in the dirt. The sight made the little Arc's mind run a mile a minute until a sudden, new idea sprouted that only a seven-year-old could conjure up.

Running up to the Dust shard, Jaune concentrated with all his might to use his Aura until he finally saw a faint glow appear off the Dust shard. He then grinned widely and pressed the shard deep into the dirt, next to where the seed was, slapping his hands together in a job well-done.

"There! Problem solved!" Jaune ran to his window to escape the cold and almost climbed in when another wind picked up and make him shiver. Even his comfy onesie couldn't keep the cold away and that forced the Arc to think when he shut his window closed.

Sure, he solved the warmth problem, but for how long? A few minutes? Maybe an hour if he was lucky? That was not going to keep the dirt warm forever. It might keep the seed warm enough until the sun came up again, but who knew how long until his poor buddy died from too much cold?

Hiding underneath his covers, he frowned deeply and hugged his pillow to his chest. His heart ached at the idea of his new friend kicking the bucket and—no.

No!

That wasn't going to happen! He made a promise on the Arc word that he would keep that seed alive until it sprouted a delicious fruit. Since an Arc never went back on their promises, he was left with only one logical choice!

He needed to get better with his Aura and Dust control for his Little Buddy.

...

During Jaune Arc's eighth birthday, Ignatius Arc had been very surprised and proud to learn Jaune wanted Aura lessons and not some useless toy. Never to look a gift horse in the mouth, he jumped at the opportunity and his son absorbed whatever he could; taking every bit amount of knowledge his young mind could take. Even going so far as to bring the white Dust shard his father gave him to practice his Aura control.

The glow had been weak still—child and all—but Ignatius could still see his son honestly trying to better himself and had decided to treat Jaune to a toy, anyways, only for his boy to wave off the cheap plastic and ask for more white Dust shards to practice with.

It had been enough to bring a manly tear to his father's eye.

"You make your old man proud!"

"Please stop pinching my cheeks."

...

Halfway through his eighth and ninth year of age, Jaune learned that plants survived just fine out when it was cold at night from one of his older sisters who were all into dirt and junk. His response had been accurately funny, but non-game changing, because he had already been too far set in his ways to change. Plus, he really liked waking up to a warm patch of dirt surrounding his Little Buddy every morning. It meant he was doing a good job. A good job meant his friend would sprout an appetizing fruit.

Pleasantly enough, he learned the better control he had over his Aura; the longer the white Dust shard lasted and the greater warmth it produced. This discovery only fueled the child's mind to go above and beyond for the seed, taking so much as to cut his playtime in half.

A true sacrifice.

...

"Just give up on that plant, dear brother. It's a dud. Even mom and dad said so."

Jaune didn't look over his shoulder to see his older sister glaring down at the patch of dirt he was watering. Ten-years-old now and so far the plant had yet to sprout and his sister wasn't lying, sadly, his mother and father did think the seed had already been dead after a full year of no results.

Didn't matter to Jaune Arc, never did.

"No!" his sister waited for a reason _why_ and Jaune finished watering his friend. "What kind of Arc would I be if I gave up on a promise I made. An Arc never goes back on their word. I will continue to keep caring for this plant until it grows a fruit!"

"But the seed's hopeless! Just forget about it!"

Jaune sorely hoped his sister didn't adopt that attitude when she became a Huntress. What type of person gave up just because it seemed hopeless? A quitter, that was who, and Jaune Arc wasn't a quitter! He wasn't one when he was seven-years-old and he was not one now when he was ten. If everyone had his sister's attitude, the Grimm would've won a long time ago and humanity would be living in caves.

"Just go away."

"It's useless! The stupid thing was destined to never grow!" she growled and Jaune thought heavily over her words.

Destiny.

"If that's true." Jaune said after a long minute, patting the ground where his promise slept. "Then I don't believe in Destiny."

She huffed in frustration and stalked off. "Fine! You're just wasting your time out here in the dirt! I'm going to go play with your toys!"

Part of Jaune believed her, and the other part wondered what his old imaginative friend would've said. The thought brought a whimsical smile to his face and he reached into his pocket to find a Dust shard that released out his Aura trapped inside. Practice made perfect!

Sticking the shard into the dirt, around the seed, Jaune copied the movements with extra shards he'd collected over the past couple of years and created a little shrine of white Dust shards around the seed. Over the years he'd only gotten better at controlling his Aura and it showed how bright the crystals got now and how long they lasted. They were even warmer than before.

And honestly, Jaune Arc couldn't even remember the last time he played with a toy.

...

Julian Arc almost fainted when her baby boy asked for a book on Dust for his eleventh birthday. A book! Him! Not some lousy toy—not that there was anything wrong with that—but a book! For studying! Okay, sure, it was for that dead seed outside, but Julian Arc let it go because her son wanted to learn and not waste his time playing in the dirt. So she ended up getting him two and pinched her little boy on the cheeks.

"I'm getting too old for this."

...

The more Jaune read on Dust, the more he learned about their vast properties. Like how mixing two different elements, for example, fire and ice, created steam or lighting and water created a water vortex of pure pain. Lots and lots of mind-numbing pain. Kind of made him want to test out all the Dust that existed out there, but Dust costed lien and he was lucky the white Dust shards were so dirt cheap. Pun not intended.

That reminded him, he needed to go pick up more white Dust shards.

Flipping through another page of his new Dust book, he stopped at the image of a rainbow mine of Dust taken from some Dust photographer. Various colors littered the page and his energetic mind wanted to reach out and hold them all. He, then again, flipped to the next page and landed on an article about how each element of Dust corresponded to Aura and weapons designed over Dust usage. Like a flame sword that heavily relied on Fire Dust or an electric whip that used Lightning Dust.

So many options! Too bad their family's weapons didn't use fancy gimmicks. It would be amazing to use Dust in battle.

Oh well, an Arc could only dream.

...

During his twelfth birthday, Jaune had accumulated enough white Dust shards to keep the seed permanently warm night and day over a system he'd devised. Once or twice his parents tried to get him to drop the seed nonsense and Jaune waved off their concerns. They didn't fight him much on it, amazed by his devotion to keeping the silly promise he made when he was seven. It did make their son keep up with his Dust studies and practice a lot on his Aura control, keeping him ahead of the curve when it came to children his age. So the Arcs looked the other way and let him pester around the dead seed.

They'd put a stop to it when and if it ever got out of hand.

His grandfather, on the other hand, was perfectly pleased with his grandson's drive to never give up and constantly encouraged Jaune to keep moving forward. Which caused problems between the family once in a blue moon and it did happen more often than naught.

...

There were some days Jaune thought about giving up on the seed and then he remembered his grandfather's stories about his grandpa never giving up during the war when the odds were stacked heavily against them. So those thoughts were far and few. One day they'd become non-existent when he recalled his older sister's poor attitude toward hopelessness. However, from time to time, he thanked Monty for never letting him ever become a farmer or something. Everyone in the family knew he didn't own a green thumb. He would've starved a long time ago.

Nope! A farmer! Him? Jaune Arc definitely couldn't ever be a farmer. That was just plain suicidal.

...

His father was sitting him down in the living room with a heavy smile on his face one day and Jaune didn't get more than two words in before his dad pressed an envelope to his chest, an envelope for admission to a local combat school. He read the line on the paper once, twice, and even a third time over before he was hugging his father and running off to show his grandpa with shouts of joy echoing through the house.

Since it was so close to home, Jaune traveled back and forth and even occasionally got some extra practice in with his father and grandfather when they weren't busy. Sometimes, when they weren't too busy, his sisters trained with him and other times it was just him and his Little Buddy. Those days were strictly Aura control and Dust reading. Those days turned out to be the best.

Funny enough, turned out Jaune wasn't the best Huntsmen-in-Training when it came to swordplay, but he did show a lot of promise and heart which was more than enough for the older Arcs. Devotion was important for a Huntsmen and he was only thirteen. The next male Arc had plenty of time to grow and become his own person. It helped that Jaune had a vast amount of Aura from all the training and had learned to control the power to a very high degree compared to other the kids attending the school, and his knowledge on Dust helped, too.

Although his time spent schooling hadn't stopped him from taking care of his seed, in fact, he was more determined than ever, going so far to buy extra white Dust shards to plant in the dirt whenever he could.

"There you go... Little Buddy." Jaune grinned, patting the dirt purposely with the Dust shards surrounding the seed in a semi-perfect circle. "So you want to hear about my day today?"

Somewhere along the way, he learned plants responded to getting talked to. Of course, this led Jaune Arc to talk about his day to his friend almost every day. Ironically, this made getting through some of the tough days at the school much easier on his soul considering he'd spent the last six years trying to grow the damn fruit. Helped that his grandfather and some of his sisters supported his decision.

...

People made fun of Jaune at the combat school for using a handy down sword and shield instead of making his own weapons. Jaune ignored them all with stride, taking joy in his family's weapon. Who needed a high-tech weapon when durability came into a bigger factor during clashes? Not Jaune Arc, high-level Aura manipulator, and Dust expert. Crocea Mors was more than just a sword and he did prefer the classics. They were reliable, yet his fellow classmates didn't seem to understand his theories and reasons and teased him mercilessly for it.

He humiliated them back by getting hundreds on all the Dust midterms and finals, making the graded curve absolutely useless, ruining the average pass rate of Dust class by a factor of a lot! But he did show some mercy by not answering the bonus questions. So, there was hope.

Not really.

Practically forcing a majority of the students to fail Dust class had robbed him of any opportunity at making friends at school. The final nail in the coffin came during his fourth-year when he happily decided to answer all the bonus questions to screw everyone over.

There had been a riot that day.

...

His acceptance letter to Beacon Academy arrived in the mail right after graduation from combat school and Jaune didn't even know how they managed to get his letter here so fast. His family celebrated the good news with lots of food. A party was thrown the night before he left and some family friends were invited to join in on the fun. Jaune did mingle with them for a while before escaping to the backyard to greet his old buddy for the past ten years. The white Dust shards he'd planted into the dirt were extremely bright and warm to even be near and he decided to drop some of the water in his cup for his old friend.

"Can you believe it, Beacon Academy, me? Ha!" he laughed, taking a seat next to the patch of overly bright dirt. "Who would've thought? And here I was planning to forge my transcripts to get in. Looks like those plans are a no-go, but don't tell anybody, I still have my perfect track record to keep."

Jaune finished most of his drink with a tiny bit of water still leftover in the cup and leaned back with his arms pressed back onto the dirt floor and legs forward. A sad smile blossomed on his face and he sighed. The broken moon's shine reminded him of the first night he planted that little seed. He still remembered getting whipped by his Pumpkin Pete blanket.

Good times. Good times.

Now, though, it looked like the good times were coming to an end. Beacon Academy wasn't close by like his old combat school. This place was in a whole other kingdom, which meant he was going to be far away from his Little Buddy, thus, in turn, meant he couldn't keep giving the seed Dust to live off of anymore. And he severely doubted his family would watch over the seed. Not with them having constantly told him to give up on the poor guy.

Saddened, he curled up slightly and wrapped his arms around his legs. "I'm sorry, I failed you. I guess I couldn't keep my promise after all." A chilly wind blew but Jaune didn't feel it with the warmth bouncing off the white Dust shards. "I'm leaving tomorrow to Beacon. I can't look after you anymore."

Jaune said nothing more and stayed out there until the party died down and everyone's heading off to bed. When his eyes get harder to keep open, he sighed a last time and got up with a purpose, a purpose to finally say goodbye to a lifelong companion. Just like Fenrir before it, the seed's time finally came to let go and Jaune wasn't going to deny it, his heart broke a little inside.

"Thanks for always being here." Jaune looked down at the remaining water in his cup and swished it around a few times before tossing the rest onto the patch of dirt. "I'll say goodbye in the morning. Promise. Get some sleep, Little Buddy. Big day tomorrow."

...

The next morning was filled with hectic panic as the entire Arc family got ready to see Jaune Arc off for the next step in his journey. His favorite breakfast was made and everyone was laughing at the dinner table, recounting stories of Jaune's youth. Of course, the main person hated all the attention, just wanting all the embarrassing stories to finally end. They didn't. Not for at least another hour until they realize if Jaune didn't leave now, he'd miss the airship that'd drop him off at Beacon.

"Blasted, we need to leave now!" Ignatius screamed, motioning for Jaune's sisters to hurry up out of the house. "Hurry up and grab Crocea Mors! We'll be outside!"

Jaune ran toward his room. "Alright! Just, just... just give me a moment... I have to say goodbye to my old friend while I'm at it."

His father gave him a knowing look and headed out the door. Jaune smiled soon after and grabbed Crocea Mors and the shield, testing them out for weight. He still remembered the first time he tried holding Crocea Mors and how heavy the blade-shield combo had been, and he thought transforming the shield into it was sheath form would lessen the weight. He had been so young at the time and a little naive. Ignorance was truly blessed.

Still, that memory warmed his heart to this day.

Shaking away the happy reminiscence, he turned around and ran toward the backyard with Crocea Mors and the shield in his hands. Perhaps seeing his friend off was a bittersweet moment, but Jaune couldn't help but smile at the thought of seeing the patch of dirt once more. Besides, he did make a promise. He at least planned to keep _this_ one.

"Hey, Little Buddy! It's time to say... good... b-bye..."

 _Clang_! _Thud_!

Jaune Arc's weapons fell to the floor with him following on his knees as his breathing suddenly got difficult to control. Time seemed to slow down and he didn't know how long he was stuck there until his father came to check up on him a few minutes later, wondering to hell what was taking his son so bloody long.

"Jaune! We need to leave—?!" Ignatius's words get stuck in his throat the moment he saw what his son saw. "... It cannot be."

It was.

An elegant, white fruit that curved up, that was no bigger than Jaune's fist, was sprouting out of the ground with leaves poking out from underneath the dirt. There was a distinct, black pattern on the fruit that was jagged like the Dust shards surround it, which, by the way, have lost all their power! Not a single one had a juice of Aura left over. As a matter of fact, the fruit itself was glowing brightly and had a strange, pleasant warmth about it.

"Honey! Did you find Jaune? We need to go—?!"

Ignatius didn't need to turn around to know his wife, father, and seven daughters were _gasping_ at the fruit-bearing before them. For years no one believed, including him, that a fruit would blossom from the spot Jaune nurtured every day for the past ten years with love, devotion, and strength. Yet, there it was, mocking them in a fashionable light that made them feel fantastic for being so wrong.

"Go on, Jaune!" Jaune's grandfather urged suddenly with pure excitement that made the old Arc feel twenty years younger. It was more than enough to bring Jaune out of his stupor. "What are you waiting for?! A blasted invitation?! Don't just gawk at it! Hurry up and eat it!"

"Oh!" Jaune jumped, grinning like a total fool now. "Right!"

The Arc couldn't control himself anymore and ran up to the fruit, practically sprinting the few feet of distance. He made sure not to slide on the dirt and carefully bent over to grab the mystical fruit. An honest surprise gripped him when the fruit easily came off the roots holding it down. The surprise only grew when the roots connected to the fruit, withered away right before all their eyes, the moment they detach themselves from the fruit.

No warning was given, Jaune quickly bit down on fruit at the thought of it withering away, ignoring the sudden blast of taste in favor of swallowing at least one piece. His eyes went wide from the aftertaste and winced harshly from the backlash, coughing as some of the juices ran down his chin. But the questionable taste didn't stop him this time from taking a slow bite in order to savor the flavor and he wasn't sure he regretted that choice just yet. The awkward chewing did give him time to appreciate the fruit's odd insides, which were literally a rainbow of colors, layers, and off-centered swirls greeted him.

"How does it taste, sweetie?" Julian Arc asked.

"Awful..." Jaune grinned into the bite, suddenly crying into each new chew. Awful was putting it lightly. "I feel like I could throw up my breakfast any darn second."

"Maybe you should—?" Julian was stopped by her husband when his hand blocked her path. He shook his head at his wife and allowed his son to continue eating.

Every bite Jaune took allowed more tears to fall and he forced the rest down into his mouth. "Blah! That tasted terrible! I waited ten-years to eat that?!" Even as he complained, he couldn't help but smile wholeheartedly. Part of his soul now felt alive again. "A warning would've been nice."

Not wanting to ruin the happy moment, Jaune's father looked at his scroll sadly and he toughened up. "Son... we need to go. You're going to miss the Bullhead."

Wiping away the tears stubbornly from his eyes, he grinned a rainbow stained smile. That may have been possibly the worst tasting food he'd ever eaten in his natural born life, but Jaune Arc wouldn't trade away the memory for the entire world. He never gave up and in truth, never failed at keeping his word. His Little Buddy didn't give up either and together they both got to leave to Beacon. No one got left behind.

"Yeah, okay, let's go!"

He went to pick up Crocea Mors, but his father beat him to it and handed Jaune the family weapons himself. "I'm proud of you son! Don't ever forget that! The Arc blood flows stronger in you than anyone else."

Jaune laughed and grabbed the weapons out his father's hands, fighting even more tears. "Thanks, dad."

...

Jaune waved goodbye to his family as the Bullhead departed toward Vale, feeling accomplished and complete for the first time since he was seven. What a crazy ten years it'd been for him and his family. All the studying and training were finally paying off and he could leave home with his head held high and confidence at the peak of what an Arc could feel. Although, the aftertaste of his fruit did leave a dreaded. almost vomit-inducing flavor in his mouth, but he was slowly getting used to it, and by used to it, he wasn't. Not really.

Nope.

Looking away from his seat's window, he sighed to settle his stomach and eased back into his chair. More to settle his stomach and taste buds than actual airsickness. Even though airsickness had followed the young Arc like the plague, nothing could quite beat the awful taste of that fruit. It was enough to make a man forget he was flying countless miles above a sea in a metal deathtrap.

Taking a long pause to calm his nerves, his stomach finally settled down and he lifted up his head surprised when the terrible taste in his mouth suddenly vanished without a trace. Gone! Completely. Totally. Gone. The mystery puzzled the Arc for about a minute before he decided Fate wasn't so cruel and gladly accepted the good fortunate without reserve.

Bored, he looked around the airship and noticed something odd almost immediately. He made sure to rub his eyes just in case the fruit had a nasty aftereffect on him, but alas, no, what he was seeing was definitely real. Or as real as his mind made it believable. Which meant he was about ninety perfect sure he was not hallucinating because nothing was making sense right now.

Right there, in the middle of the airship, where a few mindless people were standing about, a multiple colors of glows radiated out of various spots on their outfits. Some from their weapons and others from their pockets. Others didn't have this glow and color variation was completely random. No two colors matched identical areas on a person except by coincidence and no one but him apparently could see the strange glow. He made sure to blink a few times and wondered if he was seeing spots.

Turned out he wasn't.

Destiny threw him a bone when one of the strangers actually reached into her pocket and pulled out the glowing object. A Fire Dust vial ended up being the prize. The girl in question was adamant in talking about the Dust vial in her hand to a couple of guys listening, none of them noticing the bright, fiery glow radiating off the vial. The strangeness of it all was enough for him to instinctively reach forward with his hand and attempt to catch the glow, confused and all, and from this moment onward, Jaune Arc's life changed forever the moment he pulled upon a strange force reaching out toward him.

The glow from the Dust vial diminished into nothingness and one of the guys commented about how the Fire Dust suddenly turned white in her hand, effectively rendering it useless. Easy enough to say, the girl got outraged and wondered what happened, but Jaune's attention was focused on the glow now resting within his palm. His attention was completely captured by the strange phenomenon, and before he realized what he was doing, he was moving toward that strange pull again and felt a fire burn inside his soul and then in his hand. It wasn't a bad burn, but a pleasant one.

Then it became a tiny fire in the dead center of his hand, floating just above his palm.

Of course, he was caught-of-guard and haphazardly attempted to pat the fire away, never noticing how his gloves or sweater refused to catch on fire. Panic was clear and he had to hide his embarrassment when the fire got reabsorbed into his palm and everyone was looking at him for all the random commotion.

Smiling innocently, Jaune ducked his head away from everyone's eyes and moved to a seat in the way back of the airship, where no one could see him. He was still very paranoid and overly cautious. Plus, he didn't exactly have the best social skills when it came to talking to people. Sure, his father gave him a few lines to say and whatnot, but combat school had virtually been a friendless battle.

Content and away from prying eyes, he tilted his head and narrowed his eyes down at his palm. "What was that?" He could still see the glow residing in his palm, only not as strong as before. "Was that... Dust?"

Not believing it was, and a firm believer in trial and error, he lifted up his head and peered around to see any other glow around. Cautiously, he raised his hand toward another source—this time it was blue and in a guy's bag—and centered around that same tug he felt in his soul. The glow in the man's bag faded and returned in Jaune's hand like before, only blue this time and the red one could be seen moving to some random part of his body. He ignored that enigma for the moment and focused on the icy chill building up in his palm. Just like before, by concentrating on the glare, something amazing happened.

This time his hand got slowly got encased in a very thin layer of ice. Unlike the fire, he was not freaking out, _yet_ , and took the opportunity to observe the strange change happening with his hand in an acute fashion. He then added some of his Aura to his palm and was surprised to see the ice beginning to build up, float, and then break apart until an Ice Dust shard came into existence.

The glare from before centered back into the Dust shard.

"This is so crazy." He eyed the Dust shard critically, examining it to all purposes with an expert eye. In the end, it was an ordinary Dust crystal he was holding with no significant features of any kind. Jaune then experimented and decided to absorb the glow as before. Again, only the shell of shard was left behind with the color going back into his hand. "I'm so confused. How did all this happen?"

Oddly focused, he tried to will the blue glow in his hand again and didn't bat an eye when his palm got covered in a layer of ice. Jaune then recounted the low burn somewhere in his body and spent the next minute trying to focus it to move toward his hand, a very long process that was filled with error, but one that proved scientific for Dust purposes.

Eventually, both the glows found themselves stuck together in his palm and he willed the fiery one to live alongside the ice one. Steam slowly built up his hand the moment he did. Then he added Aura and the steam condensed to form a whole new Dust shard that fractured to life on his palm. It was a pearl in color, almost white, but not entirely, and the Arc knew he'd never read about a Dust shard like this one before.

"Okay... I don't know what's going on, but it's pretty darn amazing." Grinning to himself, he noted to learn more about how he got these strange powers later and held his hand toward another source of Dust, this time a green one. He stopped himself from tugging at the same force. "Hn? I wonder what happens if I try pushing instead of pulling?"

The answer came with the Wind Dust shard coming to life and causing a huge gale of wind to build up in the poor schmuck's bag. Things only got crazier as the aircraft tilted due to the influx of air pressures, changing randomly high in the atmosphere

"We're all going to die!" Someone screamed and Jaune rolled his eyes at the poor, clueless man.

Glad to have figured out the secrets of pushing a Dust shard, Jaune settled only on _pulling_ them for now and reached out for a Water Dust shard and absorbed the glow from some random girl's weapon, instantly feeling a wet sensation spreading across his hand that later became condensation building upon his skin. Like if he just drenched his hand in a tub of water.

Jaune mockingly tried to wipe away the water building up between his pores and discovered yet another secret. Random movements equaled attacks and whipping his hand translated to becoming a water whip or something between those lines.

Some poor guy became the test subject for his water attack and was busy looking around for anyone with any Water Dust. Everyone else was laughing and pointing at him with the _End of the World_ guy still resting in that fetal position on his seat. Meanwhile, Jaune took a moment and willed the glow to move inside his body while he spotted another potential target. A Lightning Dust shard in some guy's gloves.

Rinse and repeat and his hand was covered in a torrent of electricity. There was no discharge to hurt him and Jaune he thrust his hand forward in a fist shape at the empty seat in front of him. Like before, randomness happened and the electricity moved forward and clashed violently on the chair, short-circuiting any electronic devices within the furniture and leaving behind the sound of fabric sizzling.

Utterly amazed, his eyes widened and he looked down at his hands that were shaking with reserve and not static discharge. He had absolutely no idea what was going on, but he did know it was game-changing. Life changing even! And most of all, fun! Oh, gosh darn fun! And for a Dust lover such as himself, he was limitless. All of his imagination refused to sit still.

Glancing around the Bullhead, Jaune worried about the _how_ and _why_ for later. There was a torrent of Dust shards in the airship and he wanted to test the limits of these powers. Just thinking about it made his fingers itch, and before he knew it, he was reaching out and draining away all of a single color he could find to test out his new capabilities.

...

By the time the Bullhead reached Beacon, he drained away all the Fire Dust in the airship for experimental reasons, and it was only until he took his first step onto Beacon Academy, did he feel regret for stealing other people's Dust. That regret was short-lived, however, the second everyone rushed out the door and made their way toward Beacon's courtyard, forgetting about the fact that a string of odd incidents occurred on their airship. Alone that was more than enough for the Arc to shrug his shoulders and care less about the people who lived in sweet, blissful ignorance.

"Oh well, free Dust!"

Jaune stepped out the Bullhead and made his way toward Beacon, trying for his hardest to not reach out and absorb the onslaught of glows scattering the courtyard. His body was already partially filled with a huge torrent of Fire Dust and his skin burned with a heat that was neither troublesome or unwelcome. Nice would be a good word to describe the feeling.

Nice.

The control he'd practiced back in the airship was partially good. Years of training at a combat school filled in the some of the void for learning and the rest he needed to discover for himself, and containing an encyclopedia of Dust knowledge didn't hurt. Physically describing the sensation of being a walking Dust shard took a lot to swallow and few words could accurately describe the sensation. Very less could explain the miracle. Not including himself. Jaune Arc had no idea where the power came from. There was a chance it could be his Semblance, but he knew there had never been a Semblance that directly affected Dust.

Strange.

Crossing a few strangers, he stopped to see a commotion going on between a girl he could only describe as adorable and another as a Snow Angel. They were arguing—at least Snow Angel was—about the adorable girl's clumsiness, then she was shaking a vial of Fire Dust in front of the clumsy girl's face and the sneeze was almost impossible to prepare for. Only his quick actions allowed him to absorb the vial before the action finished, and it ended up with the adorable one only getting snot on the angry one. This led to another argument, but at least they didn't _explode_.

"Job well done!"

Jaune clapped his hands together, feeling awesome. He thought about going to break up the argument, but it ended with the Snow Angel shooing away the other. Part of him considered approaching the gloomy shortcake, but some third girl with a passive appearance was already beating him to it, so he took his departure and left. Having seven sisters had taught the Arc not to get mixed up in female drama.

...

Minutes earlier the Bullhead landed.

 _Sigh_.

Weiss Schnee shivered the moment her feet touched the ground. Oh sweet, compassionate ground. How much she missed it! That Bullhead ride, while mostly tame, turned life-threatening in the last few minutes. Sudden water damage and unexpected wind turbulence had quickly shifted the mood in that death trap. Yes, death trap, that was an accurate description.

A death trap in the sky.

Shaking her head, she huffed and pulled her luggage toward Beacon Academy's Theater Hall. A quick _rumble_ of her stomach tickled her nerves. The unexpected events must've upset her stomach. Motion sickness if anything. Nothing to worry about, but whatever plans she had upon landing surely wasn't coming to fruition.

No matter.

She wasn't home anymore where mistakes weren't an option. Unprecedented failures happened in the real world. Winter made sure to drill that sense of logic the last time she spoke to her. If only the lesson hadn't come somewhat thousands of feet in the air, but beggars couldn't be choosers. Another lesson her strict but sweet sister had drilled into her before departing.

Quieting her stomach, she grabbed it gently with the hope that that gesture would somehow suppress it. Wishful thinking, clearly, but she groaned anyway. The painful sensation gripped at her insides, and she closed her eyes momentarily, moaning barbarically in the open. The appalling decision costed her, and she bumped into a spinning girl with a terrible sense of balance.

 _Crash_!

The Dust Heiress opened her eyes to see her luggage sprawled everywhere with a gothic girl sprawled just as haphazardly as her items. From the way she rubbed her posterior, the fall hurt. Dizziness, alongside clumsiness, revealed the culprit as her head spun. With the way she appeared to be grabbing her bearings, Weiss had time to inspect the damage, if any, was done to her supplies.

She swiftly turned her attention to the spilled Dust vials. Her eyes narrowed with her lip pouting. First a death trap in the sky and now this? Her upset stomach already had her nerves on edge. Didn't anyone know the consequences or implications of the mishandling of Dust? A spill or heavy enough collision could've sparked a chain-reaction and blew them up. Possibly worse!

Huffing, she glanced back at the downed girl, noticing her _yelps_. The scene heated her temper. Why her? Rage boiled in her blood and day hadn't even begun yet. The last thing she needed to do was educate this girl in proper etiquette. Granted, she had her eyes closed, but at least she didn't move backward. Who moved rearward? That was asking for trouble.

Still, eyes closed at the very least demanded an equal share of fault. So Weiss pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed.

Welcome to Beacon Academy.

"I'd watch where you're going next time. Your fall completely disorganized my luggage."

The silvered eyes girl gasped and stood right up in an attempt to fix her things. "Sorry!"

Weiss waved it off. An upset stomach made any attempts of being angry futile. All she wanted to do was find the auditorium and find a nice, quiet place to sit. Compared to a flying death trap, a delay in her plans, and motion sickness, this didn't even register on the radar.

"It's quite alright. Just watch where you're going next time. There's Dust in these cases. You need to be more careful. Any mishandling of Dust can have severe consequences."

The girl's eyes grew, and she backed away from her luggage, like if Weiss had coated it in lethal poison. However, that didn't last long with the girl attempting to fix her previous error by rushing over to her luggage in a swift attempt to fix her blunders. Sadly, she ended up kicking one of the containers, and a vial of Fire Dust flew out and hit Weiss squarely on the head before the Heiress managed to snag it in the air.

Yup! Now her anger reached the boiling point. Fire burned in her eyes, and it wasn't because of the Fire Dust clutched tightly between her shaking fingers. Her passion was evident with the other girl gulping like a goldfish.

Good.

"You dolt! I just told you to be more careful! What would've happened if this had gone off!" Weiss shook the vial in front of the petrified girl, not seeing the particles of Dust escaping. "Dust isn't something to be messed around with! It requires precise—!"

 _Achoo_!

Both girls blinked. A sneeze? That did not just happen. Please, someone, anyone, tell Weiss that did not just happen. This girl, this pubescent did not just sneeze on her! Of all the—how in the world—when did— _gah_!

Undignifying or not, she stepped back and rubbed her face with the sleeve of her outfit, growling. Growling! Her! A Schnee did not _growl_ , but considering how the day shaped up to be, she made an exception and bared her teeth at the girl. In the back of her mind, she truly wished that the Fire Dust had exploded instead. At least then her anger wouldn't seem so one-sided to anyone without the full context.

Justifiable anger, was that too much to ask for?

The prey immediately tried to make excuses, waving her hands aimlessly in the air. "I'm sorry! Here! Let me—!"

Her predator backed away, counting to ten. Exploding upon this girl, while most likely satisfying, would set her back further on her schedule. Against popular opinion, she had her reason for coming to Beacon Academy and not Atlas Academy.

Weiss Schnee had a plan—a mission—a goal as it was.

Find a suitable partner. Become a powerful leader. Command a history-worthy team. Change her company's image. Reverse public opinion. Fix Faunus-human relations between the workforce. Be a better person overall in both social standing and image. She came to Beacon Academy for all that and more. Being close to home would've soured that entirely. One unfortunate hiccup wasn't going to tarnish her reputation.

This girl standing before her was nothing but an obstacle.

So Weiss waved a hand at the girl, intention clear. "Back away from me! Get away! Shoo! You've caused enough trouble! Just leave me alone already."

Her prey opened her mouth, but closed it and turned with her shoulders hunched. "Sorry."

She ignored her and finished picking up her luggage. Humph! Harsh? Perhaps, but who enjoyed snot to the face? At least they avoided making the situation much worse. Damage control. A future Heiress' best friend. A lesson her father taught her. Among other things like plausible deniability.

Humph! Time to put this flask of Dust away.

Reaching the case, Weiss found the spot for the vial and pushed it in, coming to a complete stop when she noticed the shade of red all gone from the Dust flask. In its place was a white powder.

"What?"

What the? When in the world? What happened to the charge in this Fire Dust? It was all gone. All of it! Whoosh! Empty! Maybe if this had been a Dust shard and not crystallized powder, it wouldn't warrant such a reaction, but powdered Dust left no shell casing behind. Particles of Dust essentially represented purified Dust, free from imperfections. Regular Dust had those imperfections, resulting in the remnants remaining after usage.

The white hue was the result of such properties.

Checking her scroll for any Dust related info on energy-less Dust powder, she grumbled in annoyance. The ceremony was about to commence. She'd to worry about it later.

...

Jaune Arc hated his sense of direction.

He got lost along the way but managed to absorb a few more people's Fire Dust before finally finding the auditorium. The color wheel surrounding him almost hurt his nerves and he was tempted to simply absorb it all to make it go away, but his Arc pride stopped him. He'd already taken too much that wasn't his. Even the excuse for learning about his new, strange powers didn't sound fair or justifiable. So he was determined to find the rest he needed to acquire on his own two feet or lose his Arc heritage.

Looked like he was going to need to use his hoodie to hide away some of the colors until he got better acquainted with it.

"Damn it." Hiding beneath his hoodie, Jaune was surprised he wasn't hot underneath his layers of clothes considering he was a walking heater. Maybe he should turn all the heat into a Fire Dust crystal? Monty knew that Dust shard would be on a whole different level compared to all the others. "Maybe later."

A commotion went on and he looked over his shoulder to see those two same girls talking again. Although their argument wasn't as heated as before, the Snow Angel didn't seem all too happy to be around the adorable one but made a blatant reason for staying, anyway.

Weird.

Now that he was honestly looking at her, he wondered how he never noticed how much Dust that white-haired girl had on her. She was like a rainbow. A loud and angry rainbow, but a rainbow nonetheless! There wasn't an area on her that didn't have some spec of glow and Jaune had to squint when she pointed her thumb toward him, glare and posture strong.

"Must be part of her argument?" Again, seven sisters. Jaune just knew these things. Normally, he would be invested, but he was starting to get a slight headache from all the glows and would rather stay away from a shouting female. Better for his health in the long run.

"Ahem! I'll keep this brief..." Jaune looked over to see some gray-haired man talking on the podium.

"He must be the Headmaster?"

"You have come far and wide in search of knowledge..." the guy began, sounding all charismatic. "To hone your craft and learn new skills. And when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you and all I see is wasted energy." Could he see Dust too? No. Of course not. That was just part of his speech. "In need of purpose, direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this... but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far." Jaune begged to differ. His fighting skills weren't the greatest at his combat school, but knowledge got him here. "It is up to you to take the first step."

The Headmaster stepped away, and who Jaune could assume was the Headmistress, stepped forward with elegance and pose. "You will gather in the ballroom tonight. Tomorrow your initiation begins." What joy. "Be ready. You're dismissed."

Good. He needed to get away from all these bright lights. Every second he was here was only making him more and more want to absorb all the Dust just so all the glows would go away. He was actually kind of blinded and when trying to get away, he accidentally crashed into another person.

"Oh! I'm sorry! I wasn't looking where I was going!"

A hand helped him and he was pulled up by a fierce force.

"That's okay!" said an energetic girl. Her smile put his to shame and suddenly she was poking his wrist. "Oh! You're warm! Like really, _really_ warm... are you sick? Ren! I think he's sick!"

A guy clad in green came up from behind and looked over Jaune with an impassive glare. "Nora, I don't think he's sick." He paused. "... Are you?"

Jaune quickly broke free from Nora's hold. "No! No! It's the sweater!" Lies! "I like being warm. I'm Jaune Arc by the way. Again, sorry for crashing into you. Totally my fault!"

"It's no big deal!" Nora laughed, grabbing his hood and freeing him from the darkness, only be blinded by the light. Damn the light! "Maybe next time you shouldn't be walking with your hood over your eyes! I tried that once with a paper bag and it didn't end well. Oh! And I'm Nora Valkyrie and this here is Ren!"

"Lie Ren, actually." Ren added. "Are you okay? You seem to be in a hurry."

Jaune took the opening presented, wanting to leave the area full of colors. "Yes, actually. I really need to use the bathroom. So if you would excuse me..."

"Okay, Jaune-Jaune!" Nora grinned, already liking the nickname she thought of. Once someone gave a person a name, it got harder to detach themselves from them. "We'll see you around! Will we?"

Even behind her energetic smile, he saw some small pain behind it. Similar to his own when he tried growing that little seed for years or whenever he asked his mother if his little friend would ever grow. The part of him that was all sympathetic made it next to impossible for him to say _no_. So he didn't, offering both Ren and Nora his personal number if they ever wanted to hang out. If Jaune didn't know any better, Ren seemed to smile a little the second he agreed. Though, the smile was gone the next second. On the other hand, Nora wasn't at all secretive about her emotions and squeezed Jaune in a bone-crushing hug.

"Nora..." Ren warned. "He needs to go to the bathroom. _Hugging_ him may not be the best course of action."

"Oopsie! Sorry, Jaune-Jaune!" She let him go and grabbed Ren by the arm and began pulling him away. "Let's get pancakes later! Ren's treat!"

Jaune didn't know how to respond to that. He awkwardly waved his hand at the fleeting duo before actually heading toward the bathroom. Now that he considered it, he did kind of need to go.

Finding a bathroom a little more outside the general population to get away from the glow, he sighed and looked at the nearest mirror by a reflex of motions and stopped to blink at his appearance. Compared to all the other Fire Dust glows he'd seen, this one took the proverbial cake. Literally! His entire body was one giant, glowing, red glare. The Arc was actually amazed no one but him could see this. He was bright to the extreme!

Walking up, he checked if anyone was inside the bathroom before standing in front of the mirror. He lifted up his palm and concentrated to get some of the glow to come out. Almost immediately, a fire came to life right on top of his palm and the heat burned a light tingle on his fingertips. The fire didn't even spread out on his glove or sweater—a secret remaining forever lost to the realms of fairy tales—remaining stationary right on his hand. He experimentally whipped his hand across to see an arc of fire burst out and hit the bathroom mirror.

Luckily, it didn't catch on fire, but there was a burn scar that was pretty much impossible to ignore and his hand was still on fire. Minus a bit of the glow, not much, but some. On the mirror, he saw his body as bright as a beacon and wondered what was happening to him. He then lifted up his other hand and did the same experiment, not too surprised when the other hand caught on fire as well. Both of them were on fire now and it was odd he was sort of getting used to this. His Dust logic escaped him as he experimented, allowing his mind to explore.

Curious, he moved one of his hands forward and waved it out in an arc and a trail of fire bloomed forward. Unlike the previous whip, this one didn't spread out fast but instead vastly, covering a greater range around his vision. Almost like a possible shield? A barrier? One of those things. It was a wall of fire, damn it!

"This is just so crazy. Why is this happening—not that I hate it—but a guy would like to know! I'm kind of freaking out!" Great. Now he was talking to himself. _Sigh_. "This is going to take some time getting used to. I don't even know where to begin or what to do."

Grabbing the sink, he willed the fire away from his hands and glared seriously at his reflection in the mirror. He couldn't see anything wrong with eyes or hair. Nothing on his teeth, although, there were still tiny remnants of his Little Buddy with his rainbow stained teeth and—?!

No. Couldn't be? Could it?

"Wait a second... Little buddy... did you do this?" Jaune lifted up his hand on instinct and created a simple fire to stare at. It burned for a long moment before completely turning white and then red again in a blink of an eye. No matter how long Jaune waited or tried, it never changed again. But it didn't matter, he was smiling foolishly once more and a tear escaped him. "Hehe... I guess it's your turn to watch over me now, huh?"

Not even Fate could stop the fire from turning white a second time.

* * *

 **Author Notes:** Obviously, **One Piece** inspired me. If I was to write a Dust-centric story this would be it.


	2. Pearl

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing of RWBY.

* * *

 **Pearl**

 **By: Imyoshi**

Jaune Arc couldn't remember the last time he laughed so freely.

So free from worries that the very essence of his soul fed off the positive energy he released. Almost to the point he never wanted to stop, but he did stop, right before he passed out from a lack of oxygen and even then his mood remained the same—unchanged and upright positive.

Forming a fist, he smiled proudly at the fire burning between his fingers; completely overcome with a torrent of emotions, making coherent thought impossible for the shortest of moments before he willfully recalled the fire.

Releasing his focus from his hands, his eyes traveled to the burn scar on the mirror and sighed awkwardly. Thank Oum the bathroom didn't catch on fire during his lapse of judgment. Although, it made all those safety lessons he learned for Dust experimenting fly out the window. He was just lucky no one else was in the bathroom to see the culprit.

Studying his body in the scar-free section of the mirror, his eyes roamed over the red glow surrounding his body. The small pyromaniac in him managed to snuff out some of the luminosity, evidence being the burn on the glass and the wall of fire he created earlier. Yet, his curiosity was only scratched, hardly sated. In fact, he was ravenous for greater knowledge. The light was weak in luminosity, but present. It clashed terribly with his skin and lacked a point of origin.

He wanted to learn.

Sighing, he would experiment more in the bathroom, but decided strongly against it. The idea of possibly starting a fire in the bathroom, due to a lack of understanding and control, on his first day at Beacon, might be pushing his luck a tad too far. There was no reason to put a target on his back. Opportunities would present themselves and he could always practice during whatever initiation planned to be. Because, inconveniently enough, he didn't know where he could practice in Beacon just yet. Being his first day and all.

So it looked like he'd have to wait until tomorrow. "It can't be helped. I'll practice later, yeah, definitely later."

A quick use of the bathroom and then he was leaving without a second thought, more interested to explore a little and stay away from the array of glows centered around the ballroom in the off distance. No way was he going to blind himself. Not until his eyes could adjust to all the Dust illuminating. At this rate, he either might need to hide underneath his hoodie or buy a pair of shades.

What a conundrum for the Dust expert.

Aimlessly strolling across Beacon, he caught in the corner of his peripheral vision another glow of a Dust object. It was blue and hidden in some bushes, far outside the concrete footing of Beacon's path, and his legs were already moving him toward it before he could wonder and ask what it was doing there.

He had to kneel down to stretch his arm deeper into the bush, almost cutting himself a few times on the thorns of the yet to bloom roses. Nothing, however, could save the Arc from the terrible poking, and he couldn't pull the object out fast enough the moment his hand finally clutched it. The motion then made him fall flat on his butt with visible scratches and even a spec of blood appearing from where a thorn had managed to cut him. When he yanked his arm out, the sight forced him to stop when he felt and spotted the blood on his forearm, basking the Arc in an air of disbelief.

"Shouldn't my Aura have already healed that?" Soon enough the blood stopped, but not due to his Aura, rather due to the size of the cut and he settled to forget about the incident. "Eh, forget it. Now, let's see what we have here."

Opening his palm, he wasn't surprised to find a vial of Water Dust in his hand but instead was perplexed by the relative age of the vial. It was impossible for him to get an exact age from guessing alone, but even he could tell the vial had been lying there for a long, _long_ time. Most likely dropped, lost, or simply forgotten. In other words, just another random piece of Water Dust for anyone to find and keep as their own, himself included.

Throwing the vial up, he caught it with glee. "Sweet! I wonder if I can find any more Dust lying around here."

Getting up, he gripped the Water Dust shard passively in his hand and tried to absorb it. Tried being the key word as he suddenly found the action impossible. A few more attempts later and he was glaring passionately at the Dust vial, noticing the simple fact the glow wasn't technically being absorbed, more it was restricted from the red glow. No matter how hard he tried, the red glow pushed out the blue one.

He quickly summarized he couldn't absorb it. Compared to when he first discovered his powers on the airship, he had simply absorbed multiple elements with ample room to move them as his body remained a blank canvas for color. Now that didn't seem to be the case. Quite possibly since his entire body was one giant fire anomaly with no room to house anything but Fire Dust at this point. Since the concentration was so high now, nothing else could possibly exist. It was all technical from his standpoint, yet, he had no other conclusions to bank on.

His Dust knowledge only carried him so far in the unknown.

Playing with the Water Dust, Jaune reached into his pocket to find the Pearl Dust shard he created back on the Bullhead. The shard had been created from a mixture of fire and ice, but the Arc had a sneaking suspicion water and fire would create the same effect if he tried. A possibility if he got the fire out of his system, and to be fair, he really wanted to know what the Pearl Dust shard did.

Opening up his other hand, he peered over his shoulders to make sure no one else was around before concentrating on his Aura to create a fire shard. The Dust came to life in his palm and the entire glow from before centered back on the shard. Only difference, it was far, _far_ more powerful considering the amount of Fire Dust used to create it. The shard itself burned by the simple act of touching it.

Ignoring the two normal pieces of Dust, he focused his attention on the pearly one and added some Aura to see a trail of smoke leaving the shard.

"White smoke, huh? That's new. I wonder if it can come in handy." This time he drained the power into his body and pressed on the same force to act upon his palm. Almost immediately the smoke came to life and he could see it leave a trail of smoke behind as it escaped his fingers. "This is... different."

Forming a fist, he aimed straight into the clearing and thrust his fist forward. He didn't know what to expect when he did. Maybe for the smoke to shoot out and cover the entire area in a dense cloud of smoke, or perhaps create a wall of some sorts, those would've all been likely scenarios the Arc could've foreseen. However, he didn't expect for his hand to detach from his body and move forward, leaving behind a trail of smoke in its wake. Jaune was only pulled out of his stupor the moment his free fist made contact with the floor and shot him full of spikes of awareness.

Stunned, he slowly retracted his hand back on instinct and he couldn't help but glance down at the smoke escaping him. Nor could his mind put together the pieces of what he just saw. Fire and water he could understand. From a certain point-of-view, fire and water just screamed out detached attacks waiting to happen. Smoke didn't. At least now it didn't. Truth to be told, he didn't know where smoke's Dust properties laid considering he just invented it.

Taking another experimental thrust, his fist shot forward until he reached his limit. A trail of smoke connected both the appendages and the poor boy was confused. The confusion grew stronger when he summoned his hand back to his body.

"Now that's just freaky..." Glaring at the pearly glow in his hand, Jaune arched out his arm diagonally with a powerful swing to test out another property. This time actual smoke escaped his palm and covered a small section of the field in white. "This is not making it any easier to learn."

Shooting his hand out again with a simple thrust, his eyes widened slightly from the shorter length his fist reached. Rinse and repeat he arced his palm and more smoke escaped his palm and so did the length his fist could travel, until the point he had none left to play with.

Based on the length of the smoke, the amount of smoke he could create came from how powerful the Dust shard was. Hypothetically speaking, unlike fire, wind, and water, the smoke didn't leave his body unless he purposely aimed his moves to do so. Extending his body parts a distance retracted the power, whereas fire, water, and wind came and went as it pleased.

"There's just so much to learn! I'm like my baby sisters in a candy store!" Not to say any of it made total sense to Jaune, but he loved Dust, so he was more than content to learn. "I wonder what else I can do."

Checking his other hand with the other fragments of elemental Dust, he absorbed the Water Dust and part of the fire variant to create more Smoke Dust. He could only create so much due to the low amount of water the Dust shard contained, and before long, it was all gone, but he was relatively fine for now. There would be more opportunities to make more.

Pocketing away the new Smoke Dust, he glanced down at the powerful Fire Dust shard and thought long and hard whether he should absorb it. Be a real shame to accidentally cause a fire because of his lack of control. Probably better to save it for initiation, whatever that may be.

He considered it for a minute longer before reluctantly absorbing a partial amount of Fire Dust to satisfy his need for Dust. Call it his giddiness to learn. Call it a weakness. Call it whatever! Jaune was too happy to simply not have _some_ Dust trapped inside his body.

"I wonder if there's any more forgotten Dust lying around. Only one way to find out!"

By the time he returned from his little scavenger hunt, the day had turned into midnight and he found himself outside the ballroom with an armful of Dust. He'd combed practically all of Beacon and had come back with an assortment of Dust vials and cartridges from various odd locations. Like Beacon's water fountain, or under some benches, he even found some buried underneath the ground. Although, that may have just been some actual buried Dust?

Who knew?

Suffice to say, he was grinning like a fool now. Free Dust was free Dust! To think people just lost all this Dust? How shameful and utterly wasteful of them! They didn't deserve this Dust! Fine for him! He was more than happy to collect on other people's misfortune. One man's trash was another man's treasure! All that searching had left the Arc tired with sleep sounding heavenly.

Reaching for the handle to get inside, he paused momentarily to glare at his hand. He tilted his head and tried to will the Fire Dust from before to move to his palm, the only problem, there wasn't any. Nowhere in his body did he see any evidence of the glow, nor did he feel any of it.

"That's strange? What happened to the glow in my body? I know I didn't use it." Classifying the mystery as unsolvable for now, he shrugged and walked inside. Unlike before, everyone had changed into comfortable sleepwear which meant no glows of Dust to blind him. "That's better."

Jaune excused himself and avoided stepping on people to store his finds in the corner where he planned to sleep. The teen slumped down at the secluded area, making a note to find some better place to store his belongings. He was getting awfully tired holding Crocea Mors everywhere he went. A locker or something would be splendid right about now. He would ask where everyone else put their stuff, but everyone was already sleeping the day away and he was about to join them on their mission.

It wasn't until his head hit his pillow that he realized he was alone. Getting sidetrack with his new Dust powers had made him fail to make some friends. Sure, he'd managed maybe Nora and Ren, but other than those two, he didn't even talk to anyone else. Kind of sad when he thought about it, almost to the point he feared it might be combat school all over again.

...

Waking up never felt this awful.

Normally, when Jaune Arc woke up, he was out-of-mind like any able body teenager, disconnected with the world for at least twenty minutes at the most. Except for this morning, he just felt downright terrible. Like someone took a bat and went to town on his body while he was asleep. Every one of his muscles ached and breathing actually took some effort. His body even felt warmer and not like yesterday's Fire Dust warmth. No. This felt like the sick kind of warmth.

Like a high fever.

Forcing his body up, he rubbed his neck and hoped it was just some jitters that would go away by the time initiation started. He wasn't feeling a hundred percent and the day had only just started. If the rest of the day went on like this he wouldn't be too sure he could handle initiation, very less complete it. What a travesty it would be for him if such a thing was to happen.

"I can already tell today's going to be a long day..." he groaned, cracking some of his bones as he finally got up and retrieved his pile of Dust. "Maybe some food would help make the pain go away."

With that idea in mind, he made his way toward the Mess Hall, taking only a moment to stop when a vial of Dust fell out his arms. Glancing down at some of the random Dust vials, Jaune suddenly got an idea when he finally got frustrated holding so many of them. Why hold most of the vials if he could just absorb some of them! Better than holding a giant pile of Dust.

Sticking to the same old idea, Jaune absorbed all of the Fire Dust—including the super one in his pocket—feeling way better without having to hold so many cartridges of Dust. His hands were still kind of full, but he could manage, and that odd warm sensation with having such a high degree of fire in his body made him feel safe. The feeling even reminded him of his summers where he took extra special care of his Little Buddy.

Good times.

But before he entered the Mess Hall, Jaune stopped when he realized how much easier this problem could be with a simple amount of patience. With a just a moment of his time and a secluded area, he could simply make all the multiple copies of Dust he'd found and turn them all into super Dust shards. Shouldn't take too long and there was a nearby storage closet right beside him.

Looking over his shoulder and finding the coast clear, Jaune quickly zoomed into the closet and came back out a few minutes later with only an armful of white Dust shards now with the new and improved version stuffed into his hoodie pocket. They may be powerless now, but the useless Dust fragments still hold a special place in his heart and he didn't want to simply get rid of them. Seems like such a waste. This only leaves him the choice to carry them, which didn't really solve his problem but did make carrying around an assortment of highly dangerous elemental Dust all the more simpler. But he did settle on mixing it up, choosing to switch out the fire in his body for a bundle of ice instead.

A perfect choice in his mind as he prefers the cold feeling over the nauseating warmth from the morning, already feeling the effects kicking in and hiding away the sickness he felt earlier. Cold replaces heat in a way Jaune never knew could be pleasant. Compared to the cold winds of winter, this felt enjoyable and worth embracing. Enough to the point, he entered the Mess Hall with a kick in his step.

Inside there was a mass of students loitering around, eating a random assortment of foods. All of which look delicious enough to—eh? Just pretend he didn't think that.

Balancing the now empty Dust vials in one arm, he grabbed a simple breakfast and stopped to consider where to sit amongst the random mix of people. Then he noticed someone waving excessively in his direction and recognized the crazy arm belonging to his sort-of-friend Nora with Ren sitting idly by. Their attitudes couldn't be any more different nor could their plates.

That Nora girl had a large stack of pancakes while Ren seemed to enjoy a small healthy salad and energy moss drink. Jaune should know, it was all one of his sisters ate for about two months before giving up. She still lasted longer than anyone else in the family, though. His father didn't make it past the second meal.

"Jaune-Jaune, over here!" she yelled like a madwoman and Jaune smiled.

Maybe this wouldn't be like combat school all over again.

Reaching them, he slid beside Nora and she was already going off a mile-a-minute. "So we didn't see you come in last night! How badly did you need to use the bathroom?" she teased.

"Ha-ha." Jaune mocked, digging into his own meal. "I just got busy exploring Beacon. It's a big place."

"Did you get lost?"

"What? No!" Nora didn't seem to believe him based on her devilish smile. "I didn't! You try exploring this big place in one go! I dare you!"

Nora shook her head, poking him on the neck. "You so got lost." More like distracted. "Hey!" she flinched. "What happened to your body being all warm and junk? Now you're so cold! Like a freezer! Are you sure you're not sick."

Honestly? "Pretty sure, Nora."

Ren's eyes narrowed a margin from the barely visible trail of misty smoke escaping Jaune's mouth—it almost resembled mist on a cold day. His eyes then roamed over the stack of white Dust shards on the table and finally Jaune's weapon attached to his hip. Some questions he preferred to avoid, while the others not so much.

"Why do you have all those Dust shards and your weapon for that matter?" Ren asked.

Jaune paused in his bite to glance over to his sword. "I'm carrying them around until I find a better place to store them."

Ren fixed his newly odd friend a curious glare. "What about your weapons locker?"

Nora had to pat Jaune on the back the second he started to choke on his breakfast. He was heaving by the time he caught his breath and glazed over to Ren with a panicked expression. "They gave us weapons lockers?"

Nora grinned with her tongue out and poked his chest. "Yup-yup! Check your scroll, silly!"

Not believing them, he dug his hand into his pocket to pull out his scroll and found he had a missed message. It was from the academy administration and Jaune's mood fell the moment he read over the message. Nora was laughing and even Ren's quiet chuckle did nothing to fix his mood.

"Well, would you look at that? They did. Do I feel like a fool." Nora's laughing only increased in volume and Ren calmly dug into his meal with a tiny smile that made Jaune want to strangle both of them. "It's not funny."

"I beg to differ." Ren smoothly countered. "But it is alright. After breakfast, we'll show you where you can find your locker."

Jaune grumbled an unintelligent reply and resumed eating. Made sense he didn't see the message considering his near panic and engrossed fascination on other things that weren't Beacon-related. Him missing a message sounded totally acceptable after everything. Too bad it didn't stop the sideways snickers coming from Nora.

"Must you laugh at me?"

"Aw!" Nora smiled, leaning closer with a powerful glint in her eyes. "Okay! Would a hug make you feel better?"

Jaune almost choked on his food a second time, remembering that all-powerful death-hug. "On a second thought, I don't mind if you keep laughing."

Lie Ren probably should've warned Jaune Arc a hug from Nora Valkyrie was as unavoidable as the sun rising and setting. There was no right answer in getting out of a hug and no wrong answer in not getting a hug. A vicious cycle only Ren was used to. Jaune was trapped in Nora's instant grip, but she immediately let him go after feeling his body's exposed skin.

"Brrrr! You're like an icicle!" She was rubbing her shoulders together, cold. "Why are you so cold?! Ren! Why is our new friend so cold?!"

Jaune blinked at her Nora's statement before an evil smile spread across his face. He was bringing out his arms toward the frozen Valkyrie. "What's the matter, Nora? Feeling a little chilly? Maybe you need a hug to warm yourself up?"

"Ah! Get away from me!"

...

After a full breakfast, Jaune felt a lot better. That sickness from earlier was gone and he was excited to see his weapons locker, even if its primary function still serve no real purpose since initiation was only an hour away. Still, at least he had a place to store the used up Dust shards somewhere. So the moment wasn't a total wash, especially not with Nora keeping him at arm's length during the walk to his weapons locker.

She was using Ren as a wall. Her handsome, not together-together wall she so eloquently put it. Kind of hard to believe, but he was not going to be mixed up on their entangled romance. Ren didn't seem to notice either. How sad.

They stop at a pair of lockers. "And here are our lockers..." Ren pointed out before pointing off in the distance. "Based off your number, yours is somewhere in that direction."

Jaune threw his head back. "Why did my locker number have to be so high. Who gives a number of six-three-six as a locker number to a student anyway?"

Ren smiled and patted Jaune on the shoulder. "Well, good luck. We have to go prepare for initiation. I hope to see you there."

"Me too!" Nora added after a haunting afterthought. "But come back warmer! I liked you better when you were warm! Not cold like some snowman!"

"I make no promises!" Saying his goodbyes, Jaune waved away as he searched for his locker.

Almost instantly, without having Nora's endless rambling as a distraction, he was captivated from all the colors within the lockers. Dust! There was Dust everywhere. Every nook and cranny had at least evidence of Dust. None was safe from his mighty Dust vision. It was enough to distract a guy. So much that Jaune walked between two girls in a very sisterly conversation without pausing to try out one of his dad's famous pickup lines.

His sisters and mother always called them dumb and useless. If that had been the case, Jaune wondered how his old man managed to get a wife at all. But some mysteries were better left unsolved.

Distracted from the glows surrounding him, he didn't see the person in front of him until he crashed into her, hurdling them both onto the ground and dropping his pile of Dust fragments onto the floor. His inner Arc instincts kicked in almost instantaneously and he was getting up to help up the person he crashed into.

"Oh, sorry!" Jaune apologized with his hand stretched down. "I wasn't looking where I was going! I was a little... distracted." A slender hand grabbed him and his eyes got captivated from the young girl's appearance.

It was her. That walking, angry rainbow from before! Based off her heated glare, she was living up to that surname quite well, which may not be so good for Jaune. Depended on how the situation played out. He was gambling on good. Please be good!

Miss Kaleidoscopic helped herself up with the luxury of using him as a rope to pull on. Her glare was strong, but the heat had simmered down a bit after she saw his honest to mistake grin and she settled to cross her arms and simply let out a puff of air.

"It's quite alright, but I highly consider watching where you're going next time. I've had enough people bumping into me lately." She extended her hand toward another girl. "Now if you would excuse me, I have a conversation to resume that you interrupted."

A cold chill settled in the air and neither party made a move until Jaune realized he had a second person to apologize to.

"Ah! Sorry, uh?" Jaune trailed, unsure how to continue.

"Pyrrha Nikos." Rainbow's guest said politely. "And it's fine. No one got hurt, right Weiss?"

Jaune rubbed his head awkwardly; distracted that Pyrrha's body had no Dust on it anywhere. Kind of nice not having to avert his gaze. Compared to other students, he was slowly getting used to seeing so many glows but it was still a nuisance that built up like a bad migraine, and the locker room wasn't exactly helping. More like the opposite in fact. He just wanted to leave and get out here. There'd be time for Dust sightseeing afterward.

Weiss _humphed_ a little but nodded. "I guess. But do be careful next time..."

"Jaune!" he laughed, offering his hand to both of them. Pyrrha accepted no problem and Weiss allowed herself a small moment before accepting as well, although, they both recoil quickly.

"Gah!" Weiss screamed, checking her hand. "Your hand's freezing! What did you do, stuff it into a meat locker!" Pyrrha waited for an answer as well.

Jaune laughed even more and picked up one of the Dust shards he dropped. "Nope! I was messing around with some Dust. And..." he looked across the locker room to see the rest of the Dust shards scattered across the floor. "And... If you will excuse me, I got some cleaning up to do! Sorry again!"

Their reactions were varied. Pyrrha stared at him with a timid expression, as if something had gone amidst between them. Weiss actually gave the Arc a thoughtful expression the moment he mentioned Dust experimenting. He would love to stay and talk to them more—never needing a reason to not want to talk to beautiful women—but time was of the essence. And to be completely honest, he was more focused on learning about his strange new powers and passing initiation than talking to gorgeous women, at least for now.

Ironically enough, Jaune had a little trouble finding all the drained Dust shards since none of them glowed. It was embarrassing.

Losing a few minutes into his hunt, Jaune found what he could assume was all of them and went in search for his long-lost locker. The search was long and narrowed until he finally found the dreaded thing, resting almost at the end of the hall like a mocking show of force.

"Finally! I can't believe my locker's all the way over here!" Stuffing the shards inside, Jaune slammed the metal door shut with a satisfied sigh. "Phew! Now all I got left to do is attend initiation and the worst will be over!"

Leaving the locker room, Jaune rested his hands in his hoodie and found his fingers scraping across the Dust shards he created. They're comprised of all the elemental ones he found, some more powerful than others, but all far stronger than the average shard. And smarter too! Wait? No. That wasn't right. Forget he thought that.

"Still, I might need to buy a case to hold these in. They're dangerous." His expert Dust logic confirmed this. "Who knows what can happen if these fall into the wrong hands. They could end up exploding on someone!"

Grabbing the handful, he played with the Dust shards, finding all the weird sensations from each one of them odd in their own sort of special way. Fire was warm and bright from the start. Water was sort of slippery and didn't seem to have the motivation to become dry. Wind moved very easily and always had a gentle breeze going in all directions. Lightning stung a bit, nothing worth complaining about, but noticeable all the same. Gravity expressed little weight and broke many laws of physics. Smoke always had a little trail of smoke escaping that died off only a few centimeters from the source. Earth was just extremely heavy. And ice was just cold to the touch.

Normally, Dust fragments eluded these properties, but these weren't the average shards, so Jaune's Dust mind noted that away for later. The more he practiced with the powers, the more he got used to them and the less surprised he was getting at each little discovery.

Pocketing them away except two, he absorbed the Ice Dust shard and then created another one with the added Ice Dust residing in his body. The cold feeling left him and then he pocketed that Dust to settle his sights on the fire shard resting easy between his fingers.

Why fire? Seemed like the perfect go-to Dust to test his strange and quirky powers for initiation. And who didn't like burning things? He had the most practice with fire, which roughly translated to no practice at all, but he'd burned a mirror. That had to count for something. Mirrors were tough opponents with all their cursing and trickery. Nasty devils in disguise they were.

Smiling, Jaune tossed the shard into the air and caught the Dust with eagerness, draining the energy source as he made his way toward Beacon Cliff with a burning feeling centering in his chest.

...

Minutes earlier Weiss Schnee was on the hunt.

Pyrrha Nikos! Pyrrha Nikos! Pyrrha Nikos!

She almost whipped her ponytail into her face with the way her head staggered left and right. Where was Pyrrha Nikos? Tiny hands bunched themselves up to fists as her searched continued. Talk about rotten luck! Her chance to cement the perfect partner presented itself, and she couldn't find her. If only she had woken up sooner.

Snickerdoodles!

Weiss quickened her pace. Her steps became lighter as she practically sprinted across the locker rooms. If she missed this chance, this opportunity, she would never forgive herself. Pyrrha Nikos must become her partner. At the very least must be on the same team. Anything less would jeopardize her goals. Her goals could not be jeopardized.

Turning a corner, she spotted a mass of red at an adjacent locker, alone. Her tall stature and metallic clothing spoke for themselves. Finally! She knew that mane of blood hair anywhere! Watching tournament bouts were one of the few luxuries she enjoyed back at home, and Pyrrha Nikos had quickly become her favorite contestant.

Now to get her to join Team Schnee.

Weiss stopped and caught her breath. She flicked her hair back, straightened her combat dress, and prepared a speech. First impressions mattered. Snagging the champion for her future team required perfection. Lucky for her she had training in persuasion. Even then her confidence faltered under the weight of possibly failing.

So far her experience in Beacon had been less than lacking.

She shook her head. "Calm down. Approach Pyrrha Nikos respectably and rationally. Offer her the opportunity to join forces and watch the pieces fall into place."

Business one-o'-one!

She brisked forward confidently. Another lesson from Winter. Confidence was essential in engagement, engagement or negotiations. It raised moral and shifted the tide of battles. Without it, fake or real, the Grimm would devour the weakness of any person. She needed to radiate confidence like no other. Too much was counterproductive, sure, but she felt she knew how to weigh it evenly.

Weiss immediately offered her hand once Pyrrha noticed her presence. "Hello, Pyrrha Nikos. It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Weiss Schnee."

"Heiress to the Dust company?"

Weiss grinned modestly. Perfect. Pyrrha knew her heritage. So far so good! "The very same. I've come to talk to you about teams—!"

 _Crash_!

She fell to the floor, bombarded with a hailstorm of Dust shards. The drop was an unpleasant one, and this time it was her turn to rub her derriere. She heard scuffling besides her, like someone tripping on themselves to move, and a gloved hand came into her vision. The voice following it was a panicky male's, clearly distressed for bumping into her.

"Oh, sorry! I wasn't looking where I was going! I was a little... distracted."

Wasn't looking where he was going? Distracted! Fantastic! As if one person bumping into her wasn't enough, now two? This person was also big and sturdy enough to knock her down, too. Unlike that other girl, Ruby was it?

As a silver spoon Heiress, she had never felt such humiliation. Blood quickly rushed to her cheeks, and the girl gripped his hand tightly, all the more ready to chew this boy a new one. However, once she pulled upon his arm with enough ferocity to rip steel, she froze when she noticed his honest to Oum smile.

His smile was apologetic in every way possible. Shaking eyes and awkward grinning. Positively, the bump was an honest mistake on his part. He knew this. She knew this. No one got hurt, but he readied himself for a verbal beatdown nonetheless. Weiss almost lashed one out at him too, but Pyrrha's silent smile relieved some of the tension.

Perhaps she needed to dial back the bite back.

Sighing, Weiss crossed her arms and lessened her glare. "It's quite alright, but I highly consider watching where you're going next time. I've had enough people bumping into me lately." She extended her hand toward the teasing champion. "Now if you would excuse me, I have a conversation to resume that you interrupted."

The poor dolt barely realized he had a second person to apologize too. "Ah! Sorry, uh?"

The champion smiled at the loaf. "Pyrrha Nikos. And it's fine. No one got hurt, right Weiss?"

Say that to her pride!

The Heiress wanted to throw her arms up but refrained from doing so. So far, through some dark world dealings, the situation was salvageable with Pyrrha being non-offended by this person's antics, smiling even. Besides, he appeared to be in a hurry, locking eyes everywhere and didn't seem to want to interrupt their talk for some flirtatious motives.

Clicking her tongue, she humphed and nodded. "I guess. But do be careful next time..."

"Jaune!"

He offered a hand to both her and Pyrrha. The champion, bless her humble heart, accepted the gesture with her slow to the uptake. They both immediately regretted the decision as a chilly, spine-tingly burst of frost shivered up their spines.

"Gah!" Weiss screamed, checking her hand for signs of frostbite. "Your hand's freezing! What did you do, stuff it into a meat locker!" Pyrrha waited for an answer as well.

Jaune laughed even more and picked up one of the Dust shards he dropped. "Nope! I was messing around with some Dust. And..." he looked across the locker room to see the rest of the Dust shards scattered across the floor. "And... If you will excuse me, I got some cleaning up to do! Sorry again!"

Weiss blinked at the way he retreated to pick up the scattered Dust. She almost wanted to berate him for his poor mishandling of Dust but bit her tongue upon noticing the hue of white.

White Dust shards? How odd. What possible reason did he carry so many? They had no charge. No energy. No elemental power. At this point, those rocks were nothing more than paperweights. Weiss wanted to ask why he had so many, for safety reasons, but Jaune already retreated in search of what she assumed his locker. She couldn't imagine him putting them anywhere else with initiation creeping around the corner.

Speaking of initiation, she spared a glance to the champion, surprised at the way Pyrrha appeared timid. Flushed? Perplexed? Probably all three? A strange look to see on the Mistral Champion's face. Strange, definitely nail-biting, but possibly relating to all the scattered Dust. Of course! She wished to know what he planned to do with all that Dust.

Nothing more than curiosity.

Coughing, she redoubled by to her earlier goal. "So? Where was I? Teams? Correct?"

Pyrrha blinked. "Oh! Yeah, teams sound good Weiss. Let's hope the chips fall into place."

Before the Heiress managed another word in, Pyrrha ventured off, heading toward Beacon's Cliff. She seemed spaced out. Weiss frowned at the exchange. Not the exact way she had hoped the meeting would go, but progress overcame failure.

"So far my experience at Beacon... isn't going as I expected."

...

The moment Jaune reached the cliff; his eyes couldn't look away from the assortment of glows covering the forest below. It wasn't a rainbow per se, but there was a lot of forgotten or undiscovered Dust lying about on the forest floor and some even in the trees. He couldn't see if the mountains had any glows, limited by his sight alone. That didn't hurt him at all, however, too enthralled with the cluster of colors below for the picking.

Many say nothing fixed insomnia like a good old slap of reality to the face—a popular saying in his old hometown. For him, it was an array of colors that lifted his spirits.

"You're early?" a voice spoke up from behind and Jaune glanced over to see both the Headmaster and Headmistress greeting him. They were right, he was a few minutes early and Ozpin nodded at his appearance. "That's good. It shows you're taking this seriously, like all future missions if you should graduate from my academy."

Jaune wasn't too sure how to answer the man and remained quiet. Unlike the rest of the forest, both Ozpin and Glynda Goodwitch lacked any semblance of Dust on their person. They were glow-free and he was happy about that. It was both an irritation and glare to not absorb the Dust from a person's person because it would just be so easy for him to do. Just a simple wave of his hand and all of a person's Dust would belong to him.

Only thing stopping him was his Arc pride from stealing other people's Dust. Well, that and his sense of morality.

Very soon the other Huntsmen-in-Training reach the cliff. Each of them glared toward Ozpin for the mission. He didn't disappoint, taking a small sip of steamy beverage before addressing them all. "For years you have trained to become warriors, and today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."

"Now!" Continued Goodwitch. "I'm sure many of you have heard the rumors about the assignment of teams." Was it sad Jaune didn't hear these rumors? "Well, allows us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates... today." Jaune could've sworn he heard someone gasp.

Oh? It was Ozpin's turn again to speak. "These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well." There was that gasp again. "That being said... partners are chosen based off a system of luck. Inside Emerald Forest, there is Grimm with relics attached to their necks. Your job is to find them, destroy them, and then collect your relic and return back here to the cliff to complete your mission. Each relic only has one other carbon copy and that other person with your half will be your partner for the next four years. Your job is to finish the mission before sundown and meet your new partner."

Glynda moved forward. "Grades depend on your individual skill and how you act during the mission. We will not intervene, so please try not to die." She fixed her glasses into place. "These Grimm are scattered and it's your job to find them. Consider it a mission where you must retrieve important, stolen documents from a culprit before he escapes. Do not hesitate to strike down any other Grimm you run into along the way. Once you return, expect to be graded accordingly."

Ozpin looked around. "Are there any questions?" No one dared to ask. Jaune would, but he was mulling over a certain detail of the mission that got his head in a boggle. "Good. Now, take your positions."

Spring action boards began to launch students into Emerald Forest. Meanwhile, Jaune was still thinking over his question until at least half the people have already been launched into the air from a mechanics beneath their feet. He wasn't exactly scared of being shot forward, having trained at a combat school and all, but heights were still thy enemy. However, the second his crazy friend Nora got launched into the air, he managed to make his question become a clarity.

"Actually, um, sir, I have a question." Ozpin peeked over to the student that showed up early, neither answering him but not alleviating his gaze away. "Hypothetically speaking, what if all the Grimm you placed chains on... are all gone? Vanished! Out of our hair because, you know, they might have traveled far away? Away from the Huntsmen that managed to capture them? If I was a Grimm, I wouldn't want to stick around."

Ozpin took a small moment to watch Jaune Arc, leaving the question in the air, alongside Jaune as he suddenly flew through the air before turning over toward his trusty second-in-command. "Glynda, check the monitors and see if there is a sufficient amount of Grimm with relics around the perimeter."

"You didn't think of that."

Another sip of trust coffee calmed his nerves. "No, I did not."

Playing with her scroll, she fought the urge to rub the bridge between her nose. "Things were so much simpler when we used the eye-contact method to pick partners."

"But where's the fun in that?"

...

Flying through the air, Jaune finally realized he was _flying_ at a breakneck speed through the air. Only now did he begin to notice the incoming ground and he had little time to come up with a landing strategy. So he was left to improvise as the dirt got nearer and nearer.

Throwing his hands out with a panic cross, Jaune closed his eyes, bracing for impact when that same tugging force beckoned to his call. It was all instinct after that. The fire spurring to life from the center of his open palms acted without a second thought. The loss of momentum and crash with a tree that followed right after were all physics related, next to the sudden pain in his body that was physical related. Emotionally, he was fine, but he was willing to wait till the end of the day and see how that played out. Maybe he'd be spiritually broken with enough time.

Standing up, Jaune rubbed his neck to click some parts back into place while his eyes roam over the newest burn scar to add to his growing collection of pyromaniac tendencies. This time it was the forest floor, lacking vegetation inside the giant black smoldering pile of hot dirt. It was a nice burn scar. It was his contribution. It was also a glaring reminder to his lack of control over his new powers.

"I definitely need to practice." Glaring around, he saw a faint red glow in a nearby bush and ran toward it. "Well, well, would you look at that, more Dust! And it's fire! Perfect!"

Reaching into the bush, he pulled out an old container that had seen better days. There was grime on the corners of the glass casing, but the Dust inside was fine and he absorbed it through the glass without caution. The action didn't quite refill the amount he lost, but something was better than nothing.

Hearing gunshots off in the distance, he pocketed the old vial and headed toward that general direction. Optimism be dammed, he had a mission to complete. He could celebrate after he won.

The walk turned into a jog then run as the gunshots began to pick up. Then deathly silence filled the void and he quickened his pace that soon turned into an abrupt stop from the telltale sounds of burning vegetation. Smoke began to seep through the jungle and the color orange and red start to merge with the green all around them. It wasn't until he took a few more steps forward, and into a clearing, that Jaune pieced together that a forest fire was taking place.

In the off distance, he could see Beowolves and Ursai running away from the flames gathering around. Jaune actually found the fire oddly calming and non-threatening, almost soothing. Instincts told him it was alright to walk across the meadow of fire and he did. He was unaffected. The fire didn't even latch onto his clothes as he passed over them, very less actually burning him.

How fascinating and downright delightful! Everything about this was leaving him cryptically speechless. Memorized was soon becoming too weak of a word to describe his captivation. And he painstakingly wished he could continue observing the phenomenon, but a low pitch hiss pulled him away from his thoughts and straight into the center of the inferno where a lone Grimm stood.

Center of gravity low and back arched, Jaune's eyes widened from the appearance of a Grimm he had yet to have seen before but knew full well from previous Grimm Studies—an Autotomy.

A salamander Grimm!

Taking a step back, Jaune prepared to run, knowing this wasn't the mill type of Grimm, but his eyes land on an odd double squiggly relic beneath its foot. Jaune doubted it came from this Grimm. Must've fallen off one of those Beowolves from before? Some would call that lucky. Jaune begged to differ. Like Mother Nature, Lady Luck was a cruel mistress who enjoyed playing the odds.

Now he was presented with two options. Either run and hope to Monty Oum he could get lucky and find a weaker Grimm with a relic or get stuck fighting a stronger Grimm for a guaranteed relic.

"Damn it!" he pulled out Crocea Mors, acting as the wall of fire surrounding them wasn't even there. "I might not get a second chance."

Edging closer, the Autotomy tilted its head quickly at Jaune in a succession of directions before stalking around him slowly with the relic stuck to its leg. Random spots of its body contain bone fragments that peek out. Its large, red eyes didn't look like they're focusing too much on him, but Jaune knew that was a blatant lie.

When it all came down to it, he knew the Grimm probably didn't start this fire. Someone else must've done it and attracted this particular Grimm. He didn't know whether to curse them or thank them. Then he didn't bother mulling over the question as the Autotomy suddenly zoomed across the burning battlefield and attempted to bash his skull in with the tip of its bony tail.

Jaune managed to roll out of the way, but he was not fast enough to see the second swipe of its tail that forced him to lose his shield. It got thrown across the battlefield, lost somewhere in the fire and smoke. And he didn't exactly have the time to go and retrieve it.

This damn thing was fast!

Attempting to land a blow on the Grimm roughly twice his size, Jaune missed and the Grimm moved its body in an almost circle around its prey. Its slick tongue came out to lick its own face before attempting to squeeze Jaune in.

Jaune retaliated with a stab to the tail with Crocea Mors and cut a good halfway in before the Grimm used its tail to whip him hard across the burning clearing. Only when he got up did he realize his sword was still lodged deep inside the Autotomy, which stopped to flick away the piece of metal, alongside with its useless tail.

He almost, almost smiled at the action but knew foolhardily better. There was a reason the Autotomy strain was considered dangerous. Seconds after the tail came off, a new one took up its place, all shiny with new black fur. The old one had turned to ash, and Mr. Salamander didn't seem to notice, too focused on Jaune with its unblinking eyes and endless glare.

Weaponless, Jaune gripped his fist tightly and sighed calmly.

Whelp, he'd never been too good at swordplay, anyways. Time to push out the limits of his new powers! Not like he had much of a choice now! Remembering what he'd learned so far, Jaune prepared himself as the Autotomy slowly got closer. Based on simple observation from yesterday, his Dust infused body worked based on movements and hand gestures. There was a lot to learn and he wished he had time to practice, but life was simply unfair sometimes.

Angling a fist back, Jaune spread out his legs apart with his other hand out in a basic fighting pose his grandfather drilled into him. It wasn't the most practical against even the weakest of enemies—too much-wasted movement and not enough push—but it was better than nothing.

Giving into the familiar pull, his fists promptly light up on fire, never burning his clothes or outstretching where he didn't concentrate on. The fire burning around the forest suddenly sparked to life, increasing in size before dying down again. There was a hidden tense tension in the air, surrounded by deadly anticipation, and then it was broken without warning.

Crawling forward in a zigzag movement, Jaune glared at the advancing Grimm and threw a fist forward, still amazed at the fire coming to life from his actions. Evidently, he was not the only one surprised, the Autotomy yelped out in pain from the sudden fire blasting it on its body. It quickly stopped and rolled on its back to snuff out the small flames that remained, taking an extra caution against the human the moment it healed itself. This time it circled Jaune with its tail wiggling powerfully in the air.

"I'll go first this time!" Throwing out another fist forward, fire came to life and the Autotomy skillfully avoided the blast and the next few Jaune threw. It got within Jaune's side and the Arc tried to whip out his hand like before in the bathroom and an arc of fire breathed to life. Only problem, the Grimm flicked it away with its tail. "Hehe, you're tough. Not good."

The Autotomy made a small yelping noise before charging straight at him, flicking away the weaker fireballs that were sent its way with its tail. It crashed its skull into his body, sending him stumbling back.

Taking the opening, the Autotomy lunged forward, ready to strike the down human, but was once again surprised when a ball of heat crashed onto its face. Its momentum was lost from the collision and the poor creature withered in pain as it rubbed its head down onto the earth to remove the burns. Meanwhile, he was mesmerized by the fact his feet shot out a fireball when he kicked out in desperation.

"I really got to practice!" Hearing the Autotomy's screams of pain, he quickly got up and fired another fireball forward with his arm outstretched, alongside his foot. A direct hit! "Gotcha!"

Screaming even louder, the Grimm hastily rolled on the dirt and got back up, tailing him from the side before he could fire another ball of heat. He tried to throw his hand out with a swing to his side, but the fire refused to come out strong and the Grimm didn't even bother blocking to attack him with a bite to his side.

His armor took the brunt of the damage, but some of Grimm's teeth still sunk into his body and he yelped out in pain, trying painfully to push away the monster. Finally, he threw a fist back and crashed it upon the Autotomy's head, bursting forth a wall of fire from the strike's impact.

The attack worked, forcing the Grimm to move away from the searing pain as Jaune was left to clutch his side region in pain. Perfectly for him, the teeth didn't sink into too deep, but the pain was there and haunting. He took a small breather to figure out why his arc swing didn't produce the results he wanted from the fire. It couldn't be the amount of fire in his body; all he had to do was peer down at his arms to see the fiery glow still amazingly strong in him.

Noting it was something for him to learn about later, Jaune glared at the intense burn scar on top of the Autotomy's head, taking pride he managed to do that to a powerful Grimm. The sentimentality wasn't mirrored. Obviously, the Grimm was out for blood now with the way its bloodshot eyes peered down deep into his soul, burning with intensity stronger than the fire surrounding them.

Left no other choice but to ignore the pain, Jaune readied his fist for round two. The Grimm returned the move and stalked forward, intending to end the fight once and for all.

Throwing a few ill-timed fists forward, the Autotomy managed to dodge them all and then stand on its two legs to increase its already impressive height over the human. Jaune barely managed out a wordless scream as the Grimm flattened him underneath its impressive girth, smothering the poor Arc. And for a long moment, the Grimm breathed easily, having thought it'd won.

Then flames breathed underneath its belly, shooting the Autotomy up into the air from the sudden surge of heat, and out from underneath Jaune stood up, breathing heavily. He used up a lot of fire in that attack, practically throwing however much he could into that move. That had been an all for nothing tactic. A move he knew wouldn't land a second time.

Speaking of last minute chances, Jaune glanced up to see the Grimm falling back down to Remnant, unable to control its movement, too distracted from the fire spreading across its underbelly, and Jaune stole the opening, knowing he may not get a second one and ran forward with both his arms thrown back. The pain from his side grew and it required a whole lot of effort to run, but he found the strength to do so.

"Now I got you! You overgrown lizard!"

Planting one foot onward, Jaune retracted both his arms and plunged them onto the Autotomy's exposed underbelly, forcing as much fire as he possibly could with what little he understood fueled the ratio of fire to escape his hands, and the effect was memorizing!

A fire wheel impacted the Grimm and spread evenly across in a perfect circle. The magical spectacle lasted for a short second or two, ending with Jaune hardly having any glow left in his fist. His body was practically empty, leaving nothing but the flames dancing on the top of his fingers. And out from the ashes fell the Autotomy, a smoldering mess of burnt bone and hair.

Slowly lowering his hands, Jaune sighed tiredly and allowed his arms to fall easily to gravity. He was sweating profoundly and the fire around him was starting to get to him. Only now without any of his Fire Dust to keep him protected from the elements did he truly realize how much danger he was in while standing in a burning meadow.

"I better leave..." Moving his feet, Jaune looked around for his family's heirloom. He found them quickly enough and ran back to the cooked Grimm, noticing it was turning into ash. And born from the ash was the relic he'd been sent here to get. "I'll be taking this. You won't need it where you're going."

Holding up the necklace high, he put it away and looked for the safest route out of the burning forest. Then he stopped, tilting his head at the fire that had spread out pretty far from him. Either the blast from his final blast of fire caused a huge gust of wind to move the fire, or he'd been fighting here so long that the fire already burned everything around him, leaving behind nothing but a scarred battlefield.

"Eh... details, details. I got a mission to complete."

Walking toward the more opened area of the burned battlefield, he was stopped by a young looking Beowolf jumping out of the forest, lacking any real bone structure. The monster didn't even asset the situation before charging at Jaune, fangs out, and was met with the final volley of Jaune's fire infused Dust attacks. By the time the Grimm got up from the surprise attack, Crocea Mors was already cleanly stabbed right through its back, all the way to the ground.

The monster used its last moments to glance up at the human before succumbing to death.

Jaune just scoffed at the poor creature. "Please! I still have some training. What do you take me for? Some poor sap who snuck his way into Beacon and was in way over his head?" A Grimm like this hardly registered on his radar. "Better luck next time."

Pulling his sword out, Jaune sheathed the blade and headed toward Beacon Cliff with the relic securely tucked away his pocket. He no longer felt that pleasant warmth from the Fire Dust shard, having used up all of his supply on that one Grimm. Nonetheless, at least the pain on his side was finally numbing itself, most likely his Aura crippling away the damage in a show of force. Why it took so long to begin healing, he'd never know.

Admiring the forest around him, Jaune kept his wits sharp just in case some other Grimm came out to get him, but he was suspecting—unless if it was a child—that all the Grimm nearby have fled due to the forest fire. Wouldn't blame them. Without his Fire Dust to keep him safe—another discovery to remember—the fire was a bit of a problem if he didn't hurry his pace. Then again, he could probably find a better way around the forest fire if he was creative enough. And Jaune Arc was all about the creativity.

Searching his pockets, Jaune grabbed a handful of the powerful Dust he'd made, eyeing them like a kid in a candy store. All his Dust logic made it simply impossible to resist.

The only question. "Which one should I try next. Maybe I should use Water Dust? I do have a little bit of practice with it." If he called splashing some poor bystander in a Bullhead practice. "Then again, I kind of want to try something new... Lightning Dust it is!"

Putting the rest away, Jaune held the stingy shard in his hand, knowing it wasn't as powerful as the Fire Dust he had used up. Lightning Dust wasn't exactly a commodity. Far more expensive and less practical than the four normal elements, which led to finding less hidden around Beacon, but he knew the uses of this particular kind of Dust better than most. Dust expert and all!

Absorbing the fragment, Jaune's body changed due to the high influx of electrical currents building across his system. Every one of his nerves felt alive compared to the small bit of lightning Dust he originally absorbed back on the airship. Fire made him warm, ice made him cold, and it looked like lightning gave him boundless amounts of energy, to the point he wanted to run all the way back to Beacon Cliff!

"Actually, what's stopping me?!" Taking off, his nerves felt like they were in a constant state of euphoria, endlessly jolted awake with an endless supply of power. "I bet I'll make it back in no time! Maybe I'll break a record!"

And to think he had been worried from the beginning.

Running across Emerald Forest in a much faster pace than he normally could achieve, Jaune's _lightning_ reflexes—pun not intended, but he'd gladly take credit for it—allowed him to avoid hitting some ruby colored girl at the last possible second. The movement caused him to skid with the soles of his shoes across the forest floor as they made eye contact, and Jaune swore he'd seen her somewhere before.

"Hey! Fancy running into somebody else here!" Jaune grinned electrified, feeling jittery and overly friendly. "The name's Jaune Arc! It's short, sweet, rolls off the tongue, and the ladies love it!"

"Do they?" she questioned, tilting her head at the overly affectionate guy.

Jaune shrugged his shoulders. "My mom and little sisters do."

Based off her growing smile, Jaune figured he'd said something right because she was now laughing a pleasant laugh. The way her silvery eyes sparkle in delight more than made the idea he'd possibly forgo the record for passing initiation.

What a shame.

"Wow, you beat my expectations!" she grinned, extending out her hand while she balanced on the soles of her boots. "My name's Ruby Rose!" Jaune reached out to shake her hand, but Ruby backed off when a current of static shock, shocked her finger.

"Sorry..." Jaune sighed, losing some of his vigor. Well, there was one of the weaknesses of having a ton of Lightning Dust embedded into his body.

She sucked on her fingers for a moment, doing it adorably so for the poor Arc before shaking her head. "It's alright! I know you didn't mean it! So..." she trailed. "Why are you running so fast? We almost crashed and that would've been messy!"

Jaune saw no harm in telling her. "I'm heading back to the cliff. Got my relic! See!"

He pulled out the necklace from his pocket and she was instantly inside his personal bubble, gawking. "What?! How did you find one already? I've been running all around this confusing forest, trying to find a Grimm with a stupid relic for who knows how long! And you're already done!"

"Honestly, I got lucky."

Ruby was sad with her turn of rotten luck, kicking her foot adorably on the ground. "Aw! At this rate, I'll never find a relic! I'm going to get kicked out of Beacon before I even start."

"Hey, hey, calm down!" Jaune smiled reassuringly, calmly holding his hands out. "The day's only started. I'm sure you'll find yours in no time." Mother always did say optimism was good for the soul. "You'll be fine!"

Ruby was suddenly looking at him with both her hands hidden behind her back. She slowly began to shift her head back and tilt her face at him and Jaune felt his blood freeze. He knew that look. It was the same one his younger sisters use on him to rob him of his precious portion of ice-cream. With a family as large as his, portions were a sacred thing. Anything that could be divided usually was, including treats.

"Can... can you help me?" Jaune tried to fight back, but she pouted her lip and he was weak. Weak, damn it!

Why him? "... Sure."

Ruby jumped up for joy, acting very childish as she pumped her fist into the air. Some part of Jaune wanted to ask how old she was, and the other more sensible part knew not to ask for a woman's age. No matter what! A lesson his father learned the hard way every birthday with his wife.

"Thank you! Thank you!" Now Jaune remembered her. She was the girl who sneezed on Weiss. "With two of us, this is going to be easy!"

Jaune would like to counter his mission was already complete. Ruby actually made it harder for him by adding in her own objective into the mix. Of course, he didn't voice these opinions, still under the influence of her adorableness, wondering silently how it was legal for a girl to have such a pull on people.

"Well, c'mon!" Ruby was pushing him from behind for his slowness. "We have to hurry! Those pesky Grimm aren't going to find themselves!"

"I'm moving, I'm moving, don't be so pushy!" Jaune sighed, heading in a random direction.

Trailing alongside him, Ruby smiled in the walk, observing his attire and her eyes land on his sword attached to his hips. By the time Jaune noticed her staring; her eyes were all but captured by his family's heirloom.

"I see you have a weapon..." Ruby attempted to make small talk. She wasn't very good at it. All awkward and stuff, like making friends was a challenge all on its own for her. "What does it do?"

Feeding her curiosity, Jaune reached for Crocea Mors. "Not much. The sword's just a sword and the shield transforms into a sheath and then back into a shield. They're family heirlooms."

She was enthralled by all this. "You didn't make a weapon back at combat school?"

"Didn't feel like it. I prefer the classics." Plus, he was afraid to tell Ruby he wasn't the sharpest weapon in the weapons lockers when it came to weapon design. "It's tradition in my family."

His answer made her smile. "That's nice. Not many people appreciate the classics. All weapon designs come from the basic models." She reached into her back to pull out a red rectangle that turned into a scythe. "This here is my baby. Her name's Crescent Rose." Jaune was taken back by the overly designed scythe. No one back at his old school even came close to Ruby's weapon. "She's a high-caliber sniper-scythe!"

He was concerned by the way she hugged the weapon or how she referred to the weapon as a person. Then he squashed that concern, considering he spent ten years of his life taking care of a plant he called Little Buddy. So what did he know! On the other hand, it did give him amazing Dust powers. So maybe being a little weird played out to be a good thing in this big, monster-infested world.

"Now you're making me self-conscious... you obviously don't need my help to find and take down any Grimm nearby." Jaune doubted she did, but the joke flew over her head. "I think I'll just be on my way."

Latching onto his arm, she dragged him back. "Get back here! You're not getting off that easy! C'mon, we have Grimm to hunt!"

Knowing she wasn't taking no for an answer, Jaune led the way. She followed him closely, silent for a moment. He was oddly curious to why she was suddenly so quiet. That was until she pointed at his hair and got a reaction out of him.

"Uh... do you know there's like some weird static in your hair?"

He did now.

* * *

 **Author Notes:** There's no fun unless you change up the mission setup when writing the initiation. That being said, don't forget that this Jaune Arc actually went to combat school because I don't want to repeat that.


	3. Chiffon

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing of RWBY.

* * *

 **Chiffon**

 **By: Imyoshi**

Statically-charged hair aside, Jaune Arc was feeling pretty damn fantastic!

Practically ready to wrestle an Ursa down with his _bare hands_ the first chance he got! Honestly thinking, that might just be his nerves juiced up on electricity, but his lightning personality and electrified smile electrocuted all those pesky technicalities and buried them ten feet under. Ruby didn't seem to mind his mile-a-minute personality, so why should he? Be such a waste to not take advantage of his Lightning Dust enhanced body, foregoing the consequences altogether—whatever those may be.

Flashing away his troubles, he grinned a painful looking smile at the Little Reaper tagging alongside him, not exactly enjoying the idea she was the very one who was making his life one-hundred and twenty percent harder. Arc honor dictated he helped a lady in trouble. Boyish charms only pushed him further down that rabbit hole. Selfishness held him at arm's length. Sympathy put him in her tiny boots. And compassion kept him going on this quest of hers to find a relic.

It was a complicated conundrum for the Dust-Dust user, robbing him of his free will without any chance of a real fight. Not to mention she was really dragging down his energetic giddiness with all the talks about her traitorous, older sister. To be perfectly blunt, half of everything she said had gone in one ear and left out the other. So Jaune really hoped Ruby hadn't noticed him nodding along and answering her single directory questions with simple nods and one-worded answers.

"And Yang even called my knees the bee's knees—the bee's knees! She said I was special for getting into Beacon two years early. But look at you; you already have your dumb relic. So maybe my knees aren't all that special?" Ruby pouted her lip, peering off to the side with a look of displeasure. "Do you think I'm being silly?"

Jaune Arc didn't know how to answer such a question under the current pretext. How was he supposed to respond to such a thing without the aid of his one worded answers? She was asking the guy with static discharge running rampant throughout his hair if she was being _silly_. Silly! Clearly, their definitions of the word were worlds apart. Being a bee's knees should be the _least_ of her problems in a Grimm infested problem. Look at him! Jaune Arc, Mr. Dust Expert Ph.D. at her service. He was the one facing his problems headfirst with Dust manipulation. And she was worried about being _silly_.

Racking his noodle for the answer, Jaune crossed his arms and temporarily misplaced his smile with a thoughtful frown. "You know, Ruby, maybe Yang's just looking out for you. Someday you're going to have to go out and meet new people. Life's not all about killing Grimm and becoming a Huntsmen. It's alright being the bee's knees. You should take your good fortune and make the most out of it."

It was a speech he'd rehearsed and said countless times to his younger sisters who were afraid to go out and make friends. Time and again he got stuck giving them the little talk since they'd always gravitated to him. Quite possibly due to his tendency to talk to a patch of Dust-enriched dirt, but he was getting off topic. Whatever the mood, the outcome usually ended up with a hug and quick scurry outside. Only now, Jaune Arc wasn't expecting a hug, and they were already outside. So he'd jumped into the deep end on this one and Ruby looked like a hungry shark about to gnaw off his head with that adorable glare of hers.

Good luck! His hair was electrified!

"Gah! You sound just like my dad!"

Jaune pondered over how his father basically credited him to never give up on his Dust plant. Real fathers were strong. Real fathers blindly believed in their children's' futures. And real fathers never turned their back on their child's silly dreams when it seemed forced and out-of-their-hands. If his father hadn't believed him, then his Little Buddy wouldn't have grown up to be a disgusting, sharp-edged, white outside and rainbow inside, Dust-power granting fruit. Suffice to say, Jaune Arc was eternally grateful to his father.

He looked off into the distance, eyes and thin smile nostalgic as his static hair buzzed in the light breeze. "Your dad's a wise man. Maybe if you grow out of your shell a little, you can see what Yang and him are talking about. That way you'll grow up a little."

Ruby couldn't handle it. She crossed her arms as the forest trees started to thin out with a clearing becoming noticeable. "I don't need anyone's help growing up and I don't need to grow out of my shell. I drink milk. And you know what they say about drinking milk."

"Don't drink it if you're lactose intolerance? There's no point in crying over spilled milk? A glass a day keeps the Bogeyman away—?"

"No!" Ruby stomped her foot down onto the ground, poking Jaune on the shoulder, only to forget he was a walking static conductor. He held back a laugh from the way she plopped her finger into her mouth. "It helps you grow up!"

Jaune perked his lip up, throwing his hand forward with a skeptical finger facing her direction. "See, you say that, but you're pretty short." Not to mention clumsy, but he was not throwing that in. Girls were vicious pinching machines. "I think you're drinking the wrong milk? Don't worry, there's nothing wrong with being short."

Ruby found Jaune's amused grin offsetting as she was forced to look _up_ at his tall stature. "That's easy for you to say. You're Mr. Tall, Blond, and Scraggly! I bet it must be nice up there."

Jaune would ask where such hurtful words came from, but his retort died on his tongue the moment he was tackled from his side by a mass of black fur. One second he was having a nice, non-childish discussion with Ruby, and the next he was being crushed underneath a dying Beowolf. The poor creature withered in pain for one-second longer before succumbing to Mother Nature's cruel idea of Death. Then it was gone, dust to the wind, and Ruby was still stunned from such an odd episode as Jaune brushed off the ashes from his hoodie.

"Thanks for the help." Jaune sighed, checking the direction from where the Beowolf came. Seconds later he heard a voice and tilted his head. "I wonder who that is."

"Hey! I think it went this way!" A moment later popped in a girl with yellow lioness-like hair, grinning a predator type of smile. She was sizing Jaune up like a piece of freshly cut meat. "Hello!"

Jaune jittery emotions didn't allow him to be entirely mad. Though her playful exterior did mock his nerves. "Hey! Uh, were you the one who hit that Beowolf just now?"

She twirled her hair, messing with him. "Maybe... why? Did you see where it went?"

Jaune swiped some Grimm dust off his shoulder and collected it into a little pile of dust. He then blew the remains toward her, breaking into a smile as she swiped away the particles of Grimm dust from her unprepared face. She broke into a coughing fit and Jaune's magnetic personality only fueled his desire to laugh. So he did. Short and long, crackling almost from the sheer fun.

"Yeah..." Jaune laughed subtly, finding the entire moment all the more interesting. "I thought you might want the ashes."

Swiping away the Grimm ashes, the girl in question brought her fist together and smiled viciously at the blond fool. Not to say she didn't appreciate a good joke every now and again, because she truly did, but he stole her kill. Things like that couldn't be simply overlooked. A girl had to have her pride before everything else. And she was filled with nothing but stubborn pride.

But before she could scare the poor guy, her baby sister was hugging her from the side. "Yang!"

And her anger was forgotten as she returned the sideways hug. "Ruby!" A force of nature prevented Jaune from throwing in his own name. "So how's the hunt going? Found your relic yet?" Ruby grumbled and Yang patted her poor sister on the head. Her eyes then roam over to the blondie guy still standing awkwardly across from them. "So who's this we have here, a new friend of yours?"

Ruby untangled herself from Yang; flashing over to Jaune in a burst of rose petals he'd never seen her do before in the short span of time he'd known her. She moved faster than his body ever could, except his eyes had no trouble keeping up with her. Part of him theorized it was due to his lightning nature body—lightning being all quick and stuff. The other, dumber part of his psyche thought he was _just that good_. Logically, his Dust genius mind knew better and he sorely wished Ruby hadn't forced him to help her in her mission to find a relic. Maybe with Yang here, he might just get that wish.

"This is Jaune! He's my new friend!" Ruby moved her hands between the both of them. "And Jaune, this is my older sister Yang!"

Yang perked up and pointed inquisitively at Jaune. "So? How'd you two meet?"

"He's helping me!"

"I'm being held against my will."

Yang's predator grin grew from hearing the two different answers. Without even asking anymore, she'd already put the pieces together. Clearly, her baby sister used her dirtiest trick in her innocent book—her adorableness—to persuade poor Jaune her to aid her. A handy trait, one Yang outgrew a while back. Not to say she wouldn't use it if the opportunity presented itself, but the brawler had a little more class than that. Adorableness and she didn't exactly see eye-to-eye.

Now the only question to why Ruby would ask this man to help her was the only thing Yang felt like learning. "And why's he helping you, Rubes? Hn? What?" Yang questioned, almost poking Jaune on the forearm to test his muscle. She was stopped when Ruby pulled her hand away. That only warranted a stronger reaction. "Well?"

Ruby squirmed and shot him a dirty look. "He's already got his darn relic. So he must strong!"

"I just got lucky." Jaune poked, revealing the relic to Yang. "Just one of those landed at the right place at the right time deals. Nothing special."

Yang moved forward and plucked the relic out of his hands, looked at the weird outline of the shape, and promptly pushed it back into Jaune's waiting hands. "I'll say. You've got some dumb luck on your side. Wish I was that lucky."

Jaune laughed awkwardly, taking the moment to scratch the side of his face with an out-of-place smile. If she called fighting in the middle of a forest fire while dealing with an Autonomy lucky, then he was the reincarnation of Lady Luck herself. Talk about sad. He'd hate to see what his unlucky streak looked like.

Clapping his hands together, Jaune took a moment to gauge Yang, noticing the purple glowing Gravity Dust embedded into her hand gauntlets—most likely her weapon—and wondered how they were used. It was then he finally noticed Ruby's red and black outfit consisted of some red glows as well. Mostly on the bullets lacing her belt and inside Crescent Rose's mechanic box, not blinding since the colors matched her cape, which was the very reason he missed them in the first place. And speaking on Dust, Jaune really wanted to practice his control a little.

Is he mad at the adorable Reaper for forcing him to tag along and continue fighting for his life when he could be training and learning about his Dust powers? No. Of course not! That would be silly of him. And now that she'd found her sister, Ruby could hunt to her heart's content.

"Well..." Jaune trailed, looking toward the direction of Beacon Cliff. "This has been fun, Ruby. But it looks like you and your sister have some catching up to do. If you would excuse me, I'll be heading back now."

Jaune never made it two feet before Yang was grabbing him by the collar of his hoodie. "Hey! Wait a minute—!" She let him go after some static residue shocked her from being so close to his hair. Just like Ruby, she'd plucked her finger into her mouth. "Ow! What the hell was that! That hurt!" He pointed at his head and Yang peered at Jaune's statically charged hair, eyes scrunching up together. "Whoa! You don't see that every day. Your hair has, like, lightning going around it. Did you know that?"

Jaune pretended Yang couldn't see him pointing up to his hair and fixed his new attention back to the Little Reaper. Words weren't said for a minute and the only sound escaping the area was Jaune's buzzing hair echoing off the trees. Then the ruffling of the bushes grabbed his attention and all three heads turn toward the newcomer's arrival, and Jaune's face actually lit up like a light bulb.

"Nora!" He moved past the confused sisters, sliding up to his mile-a-minute friend.

Compared to them, Nora was a little less hostile. And more importantly, he wanted to hug her, but to shock her system. Why? Jaune wasn't exactly sure. He was just feeling way friendlier than usual. Judging off her vicious smile, she was thinking the same, minus the shock her system part, but she'd learn soon enough, even more so as she lunged at Jaune with her arms out, smile grand, apparently already forgetting about his past fire and ice personality from last time.

"Jaune!" Nora wrapped Jaune in a bone-crushing hug that only grew twice as strong as the static residue clung to her petite form like a shock absorber. "Oh! You're covered in electricity! See! Now, this is _much_ better than lousy cold!"

Poor Jaune staggered back after the crazy girl released him from his imprisonment, feeling particularly drained of his Lightning Dust by more than a third of his reserves. He had literally felt her draining his power the moment her body came in contact with his, added alongside her increased strength. Only his lightning quick reflexes allowed Jaune to break the hug before she devoured him dry of electricity.

Jaune took another step back, clutching his unnaturally beating heart. "What? What was that? What did you just do?"

Nora tilted her head at him before doing a pose with her arms. "Silly! That was my Semblance! I absorb all electrical currents and use them to make super strong! Do you have any more?"

Jaune finally rationalized his breathing; no longer feeling like his bones would crack at a moment's notice. That was her Semblance? What were the chances? It was funny, humorous really. Jaune Arc never discovered his Semblance even after all these years. Logic said it was the Dust powers he had. Heart told him his Little Buddy was to thank. Instinct sided with heart in that argument.

Flexing his hand into a fist, Jaune glanced between his fist and Nora a few times, adding some willpower to get the lightning Dust to reach out onto his arm. A half second later it got coated in a small current of electricity, wrapping around his fingers like a bad sci-fi movie. Based on Nora's growing grin, she was ecstatic and eagerly waiting for Jaune to supply her need for electricity.

Shrugging his shoulders, Jaune thrust his hand forward and some of Lightning Dust escaped his fingers and hit Nora dead center on the chest. Unlike fire, lightning seemed to shoot out of his fingers rather than his palm, a light comparable note to pay extra attention to, but one not exactly noteworthy, not yet at least. It was chaotic in the way it bounced and moved without direction except forward. Maybe when he found time to test the ins and outs of his newfound Dust control, outside of harm's way, but definitely not in a Grimm infested forest where he was limited on his supply of Dust as it was. And while he was on the topic of preserving his supplies, Jaune cut off the willpower to keep the Lightning Dust from leaving his hand.

Jaune searched his soul for the amount of Lightning Dust he stored. It was roughly three-fourths. "I think you've had enough. Gotta save some for myself, Nora, can't have you hogging it all."

Nora pouted, throwing her arms down in a fit. "Aw! That's not fair! How'd you do that? I wanna know!"

"Yeah! Me too!" Yang added in with Ruby nodding her head viciously. "Is that your Semblance?"

Thinking hard about it, Jaune considered what to say. As far as he knew, they'd think it was his Semblance with no more questions asked. Nora might be a little bit pushier if she figured out his ice and fire event was actually part of his powers. He was positive she'd figure it out. So she wasn't going to believe he simply created only lightning, sad, but true. So he was forced to come clean. Well, not entirely. How did one tell others a fruit gave him power over Dust? The answer, they couldn't. He didn't need these people to think he was crazy. Chances were he was going to be stuck with them for a while.

Fishing out some Dust from his pocket, Jaune pulled out a supercharged Gravity Dust, holding the physic beaker between his electrified fingers. With his other hand, he held out his palm in a flat manner and willed some Aura to interact there. Then, before everyone's curious eyes, a Lightning Dust shard came into existence piece-by-piece. It stung a bit in Jaune's hand, but he managed to ignore it.

"Pretty much." Jaune answered deceitfully. "I can absorb Dust shards and gain their power." Ruby looked confused, wondering how that tiny little Lightning Dust shard contained so much power. "I can also combine other Dust shards of the same kind and make a super one." Jaune held up the lightning shard. "See! This is a lot of Lightning Dust put into one!"

Pocketing the gravity shard, Jaune reabsorbed the Lightning Dust and his hair gained its small static discharge once more while the Dust shard in his hands loses all its color. Kind of sad the Aura he used up to make these things didn't come back, but power always had a price.

No one said anything for a bit, fueling the awkward silence. Then Nora was getting all fidgety, unable to stay in place as she slowly curled up together with her mouth closed tightly and fist bawled up. Her eyes were bright and Jaune returned the smile, feeling his nerves on the same plane of existence as her own.

"That! Is! So! Awesome!" Destroying the silence, Nora threw her hands up, shaking them. "You're like a walking Dust mine!" That was one way of putting it. "Can your Semblance do anything else?"

"That's..." Jaune trailed, smiling a foolish grin while he crossed his arms. "A secret. I can't just reveal my entire hand. I gotta keep some cards hidden up my sleeve!"

Nora was already grabbing him by his shoulders, shaking the cross-armed Arc in a never-ending loop. Jaune didn't waver, holding back the Lightning Dust from being drained as Nora yelled out how unfair he was being. Ruby and Yang stop and stare at the two fools fighting over petty secrets, wondering how their initiation turned to this.

Yang was still intrigued still by his cool hair. It almost beat hers, almost. "So I'm guessing you're friends?" They both ignore them, talking at much faster speeds now, and Yang shot Ruby a passive, nonchalant frown. "Where'd you find this guy, Rubes?"

Ruby sighed and dropped her shoulders. "I was running around and almost crashed into him. He was running out of the forest, back to Beacon. When I learned he already got his relic... I asked him to help me." Ruby shot the equally hyper Nora a contemplative stare. "Where'd you find her?"

Yang returned the same shoulder drop. "I found her riding some Ursa through the woods. By the time I caught up to her, the poor thing was close to death. I had to put the Grimm out of its misery, I actually felt bad for it. Which then attracted the Beowolf and that's how we got here." Ruby didn't know what else to say, so they both waited to see the conclusion to Jaune and Nora's fight.

"C'mon!" Nora wailed, pouting stubbornly. "You have plenty of other Dust. Just give me the lightning one and I'll forgive you for the nasty hugs this morning! Don't think I've forgotten! My mind's a steel trap."

"It could be made of cardboard; you're still not getting any more of my Lightning Dust. I need it more."

 _Growl_!

Stopping their fight but not releasing Jaune free from her hold, Jaune and Nora turn to see a pack of Beowolves closing in around the four Huntsmen-in-Training. Their teeth were bared and they were drooling, hungry for their tasty Aura and mouthwatering bodies. One lunged forward without so much as a warning, getting stopped midway with a scythe to the head while getting hit squarely on the jaw by a shotgun powered fist. The sisters then spread apart and tackle the pack head-on, spreading to tackle the Grimm and both the electrifying duo were left to watch.

By the time Nora realized what was happening, the pack had been thinned down considerably and she was sulking at the missed opportunity to fight. Didn't stop her from trying to take on the few remaining Grimm, but it wasn't nearly enough to satisfy her hunger for Grimm blood, and this left the Arc to watch over the trio fighting.

First off it was Ruby. From the glows he could see on her body, she liked Fire Dust—her color scheme might be a correlation—and Jaune wondered if she had something to do with the burning forest fire from before. Lacking any evidence to prove that, his eyes move to every spot she zoomed to, never failing to lose her within his sights. She was fast, painfully so, and those rose petals of her made him wonder for a bit.

Now it wasn't like Jaune could run super-fast like Mrs. Speedster right there, but keeping up with her in the terms of vision was nothing stressing. She was quick, but not quick enough to escape his impeccable, electrically-charged, lightning-quick eyes. But strengths aside, his body didn't spark enough power to keep up. He instinctively knew this. Sadly enough, Nora's mouth ran far faster than the both of them put together. Her energy output simply put theirs to shame.

Onto Yang, Jaune was interested to learn she was all about the hand-to-hand combat. Her fists spoke louder than her words. The Gravity Dust in her gauntlets allowed her to move longer ranges than what the normal velocity of a propelled shotgun firing mechanic could achieve, aiding in her delivery for each fist strike with an extra force between each hit. The purple glow did contradict with her yellow and brown appearance, although it did make it easier to spot her in the mass of black. That and her battle cry with each new kill to add to her belt.

Finally, there was his sponge of a friend, Nora, who was probably the biggest powerhouse between the three. The hammer in her hands—which was hidden in grenade form—was taller than her. There was a variety of Dust mixed into the face, and she was physically hitting the Grimm across the forest. Jaune liked to think they turned into ash before they hit the forest floor. And he knew some of her strength came from the Lightning Dust she sneakily robbed from him, depleting him of some of his already limited resources. Part of him was angry and the other was too electrically charged to care.

Taking his eyes off them, Jaune glanced around, hoping to find any forgotten Dust lying around. Other than some Dust he could barely make out about four feet beneath his feet, his eyes land near a tree off to the side of the clearing with some Gravity Dust beside it. The area was covered by tall grass, easily explaining why no one else noticed the Dust. Didn't keep him from reaching out and grabbing the Dust for himself, this time it wasn't in a container, simply a forgotten or lost shard of Dust.

Pocketing away the Dust, Jaune came back to see the girls finishing off the last Beowolf with Nora smashing the creature down with her hammer multiple times as it was already turning to ashes. They were effective in killing Grimm, if not a bit harsh. Something told him he was the sane one, him, the guy who talked to a plant for a majority of his life. Now, he was honestly scared for his future.

"Aw! I wish we had more!" Yup! Definitely scared!

Ruby and Yang return Nora's sympathy, kicking their feet on the dirt. Yang was the first to speak. "None of these damn bastards even had a relic. I didn't think this was going to be such a hassle."

Ruby zoomed back across each and every dying Grimm, dropping her shoulder and head when Yang turned out to be right. Then another growl from the forest grabbed their attention and out came one more Beowolf, just like the others, weak and fragile. To any Huntsmen-in-Training it was just one more kill, to the girls it was a chance because on the neck of the monster was a relic with a straight line, short cross, and pointed arrow hanging down its neck. The relic was a strange shape, no one could deny, but the find was nonetheless perfect.

For only one of them anyways.

"It's mine!" Nora shouted and ran headfirst to the defenseless Grimm. The monster didn't even get to move so much as an inch before Nora's hammer crushed every bone in its body, freeing the relic into the air from the sudden impact. "Yes! Come to momma!"

Jumping forward, Nora scarcely missed the relic and it fell on an oddly shaped, black branch, deeper into the forest darkness. The string holding the relic made it fall down the curve of the branch and Nora jumped onto the wood to retrieve it. The second her foot stepped onto something slippery, a bright light flashed from out of nowhere, blinding everyone in the area momentarily. By the time they get used to the sudden light show, Ruby, Yang, and Jaune see Nora hanging onto the antenna of a giant flying firefly Grimm—a Lampyrid!

The flaps from its wing moved everything around it and the monster was hovering a good distance in the air. The Grimm itself had a bone-plating around most of its lower body with bone-plating covering a good portion of its thorax. The wings were about half and half, deducing an old age, but entirely ancient. Eyes were large and focused on the hanging Nora, tilting its head faster than the Autotomy did. And all of its thin legs were protected as well. Not to say it needed it. The Grimm was comically large, easily towering over all their frames put together and then some. If Jaune was to give a fair estimate, he would say as large as the ballroom from where they all slept. And the large buzzing noise effortlessly traveled across the forest floor, reminding them they were in its territory.

Not the other way around!

"It's a giant bug!" Jaune was surprised to find it was _him_ screaming that out loud. Luckily, no one heard him and he was already dashing out to help Nora. "I'm coming, Nora! Hold on!"

"Wait up!" she screamed right after, hanging onto the antenna easy enough. "This one's mine—!" And then she was flung off the Grimm and right down into a crater right by his feet. Jaune nonchalantly looked down at the pile of dirt and picked her up.

"You were saying?"

She scrambled out of his hold, grinning fiercely at the flying Grimm brushing Yang and Ruby's gunshots away with little to no effort. Most of the bullets didn't even reach the Grimm due to the wind throwing off their trajectory and velocity. The few that do simply bounce off its harden skin, effortlessly and sadly. Then the bright light from its abdomen flashed once more, stunning them again, leaving the duo subjected to the Lampyrid's surprise head-butt into the solid ground. It was the simplest of head-butts, almost adorable in its own right. No wasted movement. Simply head and ground. Nothing more, nothing less.

After the light vanished, the poor soul to feel its wrath was Yang, stuck in a crater molded perfectly for her body. She was twitching and her smile was shattered in some places. Ruby was already trying to pry her sister out of the ground while Yang laughed brokenly.

"Pain..." Yang wheezed.

"I got you, Yang—!" Ruby was hit by the Lampyrid doing a tailspin, flinging her across the clearing and right into a tree. It broke upon her impact and the bark fell onto her. Her voice was heard a moment later. "Pain."

Nora tried to run forward with her hammer, but Jaune was holding onto the handle. She tried to break free, but he was more stubborn than her. "I don't think the Headmaster expected us to fight this thing, Nora." Apparently, that was the wrong thing to say because the Lampyrid was looking straight at them now with its antennas moving in the most strange of ways. "That's just gross."

"I can take him!"

Jaune forced her to look at him. "Did you not see what that thing just did to Ruby and Yang? They lasted two hits! _Two hits_! Done! Let's just grab them and get out of here. Live to fight another day!"

Frowning, Nora looked back to the Lampyrid, staring down the monster. It didn't bat an eye, waiting for them to make a move. "It's just going to follow us, anyways. So we might as well beat it down now!"

Jaune couldn't fault her logic there. As far as he was guessing, the Grimm would simply follow them. No two ways about it. And the damn thing could fly. "Arg! Fine! But we gotta be careful!" Charging up the electricity running rampant in his body, Jaune shot his fist forward and waves of lightning shot out in random directions, most didn't even hit the Grimm. And the few that do didn't really do any damage. "Well, that's not going to work."

Dodging an attempted air dash from the Lampyrid, Jaune and Nora lung out of the way, hitting the floor with a loud thump. The Grimm flew into the air and made a quick upturn, racing back down at the weakened teens. The buzzing from its wings proved to be a flaw, allowing them to just figure out when to dodge. By the time the Lampyrid was making another turn into the air, Yang had freed herself from the Yang-like crater and had begun firing more shells at the Grimm. Ruby was still pulling herself up from the base of the tree.

Running forward, Nora used her electrify charged muscles to add a little extra oomph and brought the hammer down on the Grimm when it got close enough. It worked, for about a second, but then the Grimm's shaking Nora off its head, flying back into the air before doing a barrel roll to avoid Yang was incoming shotgun shells. Then the monster sharply turned in the air and zoomed toward Nora's still downed form. The trigger-happy girl barely stood up to intercept the Grimm's head-butt, feeling her muscles starting to fail her as the Lampyrid used its weight to crush Nora underneath. The ground beneath her feet began to crack, sinking down from the added force. In other words, Nora was about to be crushed and her body couldn't build up enough power to push back.

Charging up his hands, Jaune ran toward Nora, who had been forced down onto one knee, losing the battle to the Grimm. He threw one hand forward with his fingers aimed directly at Nora, palm no longer flat-out, yelling out to the Grimm to stop.

"No... No! No! Don't die!" Willing the Lightning Dust to shock her systems, it came to life with a trajectory no longer random. The lightning moved with the flow of his fingers, hitting Nora's body.

Nora felt the sensation of the Lightning Dust from Jaune's control entering her nervous system; her shocked eyes open from the sudden influx of electrical charges rejuvenating each and every one of her muscle fibers, giving her the much-needed strength to finally push the Lampyrid back and to go on the counterattack. And the Lampyrid was none too ready for the sudden supercharged punch to its eye, retreating the Grimm back into the air. Meanwhile, Jaune's static discharge completely vanished from his body as he put everything he had into Nora.

"I feel great!" Nora yelled, grabbing Magnhild from the floor and advanced toward the stunned Grimm. "Now it's my turn!"

Letting Nora take out her excessive energy out on that Grimm, Jaune momentarily checked his pockets for what remained of his stash of Dust. So far he was out of Fire and Lightning Dust. His hand slipped over the Water Dust shard—knowing it off the bat for its slipperiness—and he pulled the shard out of his pocket. His Dust knowledge allowed him to see the opening and Jaune wasted no more time to absorb the water shard, feeling that wetting feeling all over his body from the supercharged Water Dust. Then some of his blond hair got in his face and Jaune found all of his hair drenched in water, impossible to dry.

So this was the effect a high concentration of Water Dust had on a person. "I'll worry about that later. I've got to help Nora! I don't think Ren would like it if she got hurt."

Waving out his arm in a horizontal Arc, a wave of water came forth and splashed the Lampyrid all over its body. Soon enough its wings were soaked in water and the monster was having a difficult time trying to fly, not to mention Nora was hitting the thing on its overly large eyes with supercharged punches. Jaune tried to thrust his fist forward, hoping water would escape and hit the creature like a hydrant, but the process was vetoed, and only a small trickle of water escaped his hand. Seeing Nora, Yang, and now even Ruby retaliating with the ground-borne Grimm, Jaune took a quick moment to experiment with his arms movements, recalling all the similar problems, fire, lightning, and now water powers had.

Throwing another fist forward, hardly any water concentrated out his hand. Tilting his fist, he swept his arm in an arc and the water came gushing out, splashing the drying Grimm. Weird, he couldn't help but compare the problems fire had when he swept his arm in an arc. Oddly enough, water had issues whenever he threw his fist forward. And lightning was just a whole other bag of problems all on its own, being scattered one moment and focused the next. Such a melting pot of complications he'd been given. As far as he could tell, hand and arm movement played a vital role. Jaune didn't even want to headache over leg placement.

Forgetting about his problems, for now, Jaune reached for Crocea Mors and charged right toward the Lampyrid with Nora smacking the Grimm on the head while it managed to dry off its wings. Jaune easily enough threw the arm holding Crocea Mors out in an Arc and the water burst forth, dousing the Grimm yet again in liquid. This time the Grimm landed down and closed up its wings, doing what must be a glare at the four teenagers. Its giant red-eyes peer deeply into their souls and the Grimm moved with the grace of an insect, waddling on all eight legs across the clearing. Then, by their astonishment, the Grimm slid onto the floor and began rolling toward them, crushing anything and everything under its hard shell and exoskeleton.

Yang cocked a grin, pressing her fist together. "You don't see that every day."

"I got it!" Nora charged forward, still amped up from Jaune's energy boost. Her feet slid against the dirt floor and the Grimm's momentum was slowed, but not halted. Yang joined in soon after, stopping the turning, but both the girls were stuck there, using all they had to keep the Grimm from rolling. "Jaune! Ruby! Hurry up and hit it!"

Ruby took the opening and fired some fire rounds into the Grimm's unprotected insect eyes, inciting a reaction from the Lampyrid. It thrashed wildly, moving away from the girls and squirming around on the dirt floor. The monster then charged blindly at Ruby, thumping all eight of its legs hard onto the floor. Ruby barely managed to flank the Grimm, but not before the monster shined its light once more. That was when Jaune threw an arc forward, splashing the Grimm's tail up with liquid and with Nora already running forward, throwing everything she had into her next swing onto the Grimm's lightened up abdominal.

Some type of chemical reaction must've happened because Nora was flung back from the sudden explosion of Grimm dust, causing her to crash right into an unsuspecting Jaune. Bones spread across the clearing and somewhere in the background there were screams coming from the sisters, but that was drowned up quickly enough.

"Ew! You're all wet!" Nora sat up, scooting away from Jaune's person in record time. It was true. Didn't mean it made it any less hurtful. "I liked you better when you were all staticy—hey! Look! It's the relic!" True to her word, the relic was lying right beside his moist head, indented into the ground. She quickly scooped up the item and began to dance with joy. "I win! I win! We can leave now!"

For once, Jaune was perfectly willing to listen to Nora talk. In the short time he had known her; he'd learned she had no _off_ button, except possibly outside of Ren. Her mouth ran faster than Ruby and Nora was prone to crazy ideas at a moment's notice, but if it got him out of this wacky forest, he'd listen to her talk about her dream journal if it came to that. Honest to Monty Jaune wished she didn't have one of those. What a nightmare that'd be on his conscious.

Sitting up, Jaune wiped his dripping hair back, surprised his gloves were water-free. In fact, his entire outfit was unbelievably dry compared to how soaking wet his body felt. Outside the spots where water landed after he summoned the power, actual condensation from his body left no foreseeable marks. Same like fire, no outside force influenced him instinctively. He was free from them. An odd trait to his Dust powers, one that he didn't mind. It was useful in its own special way. Jaune was just wondering what the heck the drawback was going to be.

"Yeah!" Jaune got up, pulling Nora along. "That sounds like a great idea. Let's get out of here." Suddenly, Ruby appeared right in front of the friends, arms pulled together, and pout impossible to miss. "Oh! Uh... hey... Ruby... we won."

She was covered in soot and dirt, just like them. Ashes of the Lampyrid lither her once clean cloak and her eyes were blazing with silvery fury upon noticing the relic in Nora's hands and not hers. The Valkyrie quietly hid the relic behind her back, whistling a terrible tune. Jaune did no such thing and sighed into the air, hating his luck. He wanted to help, but this was supposed to be an initiation. Perhaps he could get Yang to cover for him. And while he was on the subject matter, where was that firecracker?

"Hey! You promised to help me find a relic!"

"And I did!" Jaune lamely reasoned, looking like a wet noodle. "We found a Grimm with a relic and Nora just so happened to beat you to it. Don't blame me if you were too _slow_."

"Ha!" Yang laughed as she walked toward them, not faring any better on their part with cleanliness. She was patting poor Ruby on the head, ruffling up her baby sister's hair. "I've never heard that one. Don't worry, Rubes, I'll help you find your relic. The day's still young!"

Everyone pretty much ignored the raining ashes of Lampyrid dust, standing around in a circle of black rainfall. Ironically enough, Jaune was the only one wet. Well, Nora as well as she did get hit by his water streams here and there. They were perfect friends.

"How about you walk with us to Beacon Hill and if we see any Grimm with relics, then I'll stop to help. Sounds fair?" Jaune reasoned with Nora nodding along.

Ruby didn't look satisfied, but she kicked the dirt beneath her feet anyway. "Fine. But we better find another relic!" Jaune was afraid to ask what would happen if they didn't. "Now! Onwards to victory!"

Following the leader, the group headed toward the cliff, passing little stories of their past. Mostly, it was Yang telling Jaune and Nora embarrassing stories about Ruby when she was just a little rosebud. Occasionally, he added in his own little sister tales, but it was mostly curtains for Ruby's pride. Didn't mean she allowed Yang's evilness to go on undeterred, she did try to get Yang to stop, but to no avail. Her mouth was stronger than her bite and Yang had a ton of bite. Nora and Jaune enjoyed the tales, preparing future blackmail for poor Ruby. Nora could use extra pancakes.

"Then there was the time Ruby walked in on dad in the—!" Yang's mouth was covered by Ruby's hands. Her sister had actually jumped on her back, stopping Yang from revealing any more embarrassing tales of her youth. "Mmmgg! Hgng! Ghgje!"

"Stop talking!" Ruby glared, crossing her legs over her sister's stomach. "You're worse than dad! Both of you! First, you and Jaune tell me I need to grow up and meet new people!"

Yang stopped licking Ruby's palm to let her eyes to travel toward the soaking blond. His hair had gotten mostly in his eyes and every few minutes he had to style it back because Nora kept messing with it every chance she got. And she had her chance a minute ago and Jaune simply hadn't fixed it yet, giving into Nora's game of wet and wetter for now. But his will remained strong. He was not out of the game yet. Ignoring all that, Yang thought about what Ruby said. Apparently Mr. Tall, Blond, and Scraggly here acted like their old man. She was sorely tempted to see exactly what Ruby meant.

Jaune jumped at the mention of meeting new people, recalling past little sister tantrums. "Ruby here thinks she's being silly for wanting to be normal." He pretended to belch. "I don't see why she wants to be normal. Being the bee's knees must be great! She should listen to her dad more."

"Who's side are you on?!"

Yang tagged alongside Jaune, walking powerfully now. If Yang had any sort of soft spot, it was Ruby Rose and her father Taiyang Xiao Long. She wouldn't exactly call herself a daddy's girl, but Yang loved her old man to Death. If it wasn't for his advice, Yang would've never learned what the idea of clubbing was. And this fiery dragon loved to dance and drink Strawberry Sunrises. So Jaune Arc so far was good in her book. His understanding of what it meant to have little sisters was only a plus. Him knowing how to tease said little sisters was just a bigger plus.

Yang needed this guy as a friend.

"Really?" Yang grinned toothily. "You told Rubes that, huh? Isn't it a pain when little sisters don't listen to their older siblings?"

"Oh, I know..." Jaune sighed, throwing his wet hair back for the umpteenth time. Finally, someone who understood his struggles. "All you want is the best for them and they completely ignore you. It's a thankless job, but someone's gotta do it."

Ruby Rose couldn't believe this! She _could not_! Jaune Arc and her sister were bonding! This couldn't be good. It was one thing if Yang made friends who tolerated her ambitious attitude; it was another if she found one who enjoyed it. Nothing good could come from it. Nothing at all! And Ruby looked to Nora for some sort of guidance, for some sort of unknown kinship, but the bomber was busy trying to mess with Jaune's shiny locks again, completely useless to her in her dire time of need.

Yang shook her head, flicking back Jaune's wet hair the moment Nora messed it up. "Us great haired Huntsmen gotta stick together. We gotta make sure those with special knees know just how special they really are."

Ruby Rose was about ready to tear both their hair out, but ruffling from a bush alerted them all. They wait patiently for the ruffling to stop before out stepped another individual covered in mud. His hair was a mess and he was out of breath—!

"Ren!" Nora tackled her childhood friend down onto the ground, resting herself on his lower torso with her butt planted squarely there. Her eyes were bright and her smile greater. "Ren! There you are! I've been looking all over for you! Look what I have! It's a relic." She held up the relic for him to see. "What about you?"

Ren pulled an object out of his pocket and held it up for Nora to see. "I also have my relic."

Nora took a moment to inspect his relic, realizing it wasn't matching hers. It was matching Jaune's squiggly line one, meaning her chances of being Ren's partners were now nonexistent. And Ren swore he could see the light painstakingly die the moment she learned this and her shoulders sagged a little.

"Oh..." Nora's voice grew quiet and her smile broke partially. Jaune's bleeding heart couldn't take it and he plucked Nora's relic out of her hand and switched it with his, pretending nothing significant just happened. Moments later her smile fixed itself, growing twice as big and she was hugging Jaune, not caring his skin was soaked to the bone. "Aw! You're the best, Jaune! I knew I chose a great friend! Ah!"

Ren sat up, pushing one hand back to lean on as Nora crushed Jaune in an all-powerful hug. His smile was tight and light, content at Nora's find of a new friend. Monty knew she could use more of those. Then his pink eyes travel across to the two females watching the entire ordeal, oddly acute to their equally dirty presence. He would bet lien they all fought the same Grimm and had something to do with that explosion from earlier. And knowing his luck, Ren wasn't sure how the dice would land.

Untangling herself from Jaune, Nora returned to Ren's side, sliding up next to the stoic man as she began recalling her tale. "You missed it, Ren! We all fought a giant moth; it might have been a firefly Grimm, the size of the ballroom! The Grimm was beating us bad and almost crushed us, but Jaune-Jaune used his super Dust Semblance—which was amazing by the way—to give me a big charge up and we managed to win! Then I got my relic and here we are!"

Ren looked to Jaune for confirmation and the Arc solemnly sighed. "It's true."

Booping her on the nose, Ren smiled a little lighter. "I'm just glad you're safe, Nora." He got up, pulling Nora to her feet as well. "I got my relic by taking down a King Taijitu. It was nothing special." His eyes roam back to the other two. "I'm sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. My name's Lie Ren and this is Nora Valkyrie."

Yang recovered from her surprise shock and pushed a thumb into her chest. "The name's Yang Xiao Long. But you can just call me Yang. And this here is Ruby."

"Hi!" Ruby waved, although it was partially forced, like her smile. Just seeing another person with a relic was grating on her adorable nerves. "I see you found a relic. I'm very happy for you."

Ren had a sneaking suspicion she wasn't. "Uh, thanks. Nice to meet you!" He glared at the other person. "Good to run into you again, Jaune. I trust you're not hurt."

"By whom? The Grimm or Nora?"

Ren chuckled, planning to ask Jaune about his wet appearance later. On an honest note, he was jealous of Jaune. The lucky guy didn't seem to realize how truly hot it was out with the constant stream of water dripping down his hair. Intelligence pointed to this apparent Dust Semblance being the culprit behind his newfound power, and he would ask, but he wasn't sure if it was his place to tell. For now, Ren was content learning that Nora was fine and that she was on his team.

"So where were you four heading?" Ren asked.

Nora moved her finger between Jaune and her. "Well, me and Jaune-Jaune here were going back to Beacon. These two are tagging along so we can help them find their relics along the way! It was all part of my super-secret plan."

"Hey! That was my plan!"

Ren watched Nora mess up Jaune's wet hair before she tagged alongside him, breaking his personal bubble. "Just ignore Jaune-Jaune, he doesn't know what he's talking about. Just look at him! He's covered in water."

Jaune didn't say anything—not stooping to her level—but he did whip his hand toward her, splashing Nora in a torrent of Water Dust. The water soaked her to the bone and now her hair was in her face. Drips of water splash onto the floor and damn was it cold. She was trying to fight off a shiver while Jaune held back a smirk.

"Oops! Clumsy me, my hand slipped. Must be because I'm too wet to keep it from moving?" Nora opened her mouth large and wide, finger ready and she was splashed with a second torrent of water. Jaune acted out an unconvincing yawn. "Oops... it slipped again. You understand, Nora. I don't know how to control myself."

Spitting some water out, Nora grabbed her weapon and turned to Ren with a sadistic smile while her eyes remained covered by her newly wet hair. "If you would excuse me for a minute, Ren. I need to go talk to Jaune. Be right back!"

"Uh, Nora?" Ren pointed out, glancing at the retreating Arc. "He's already halfway out of the forest."

"What!" she turned around and spots Jaune laughing manically toward Beacon Cliff. "Wait a minute! Get back here!" Rushing after him, Nora waved her hammer around excessively while Jaune dodged her with all the waviness Water Dust had to offer. "Take your beating like a man!"

Ren sighed off to the side, running a hand through his hair. "I'm going to have my hands full with those two. It's going to be a long four years." He glanced over at the sisters. "So neither of you two have found your relics yet?"

"Nope!" Ruby grumbled and Yang patted poor Rubes on the head.

"Don't worry, Ruby." Ren said, extending his hand out slowly into the air. "The day's still bright and full of opportunity."

 _Flash_! _Thunder_! _Rainfall_!

Seconds later and all three were soaked along Jaune and Nora to the bone in a hailstorm of rain. Their hair was dripping and their clothes were clinging uncomfortably to their bodies. The rain seemed never-ending, and the only one who seemed fine with this was Jaune Arc, who was still outrunning Nora, unfazed by the sudden rainfall.

Yang had to blow some of her hair out of her face while pinching Ruby's out from between her eyes. "You were saying?"

Glaring up at the rain clouds of misfortune hanging above their heads, Ren's pink eyes narrowed dangerously at the sudden abnormality, silently cursing Lady Luck for her cruel games. The irony wasn't lost on him. He knew why this happened and silently pretended to ignore it as the trio went in a cold pursuit for the Arc and Valkyrie. Each step appeared to only further increase the amount of rainfall before a harsh wind picked up and almost made the whole situation twice as unbearable.

"Is it too late for me to go back to Signal?" Yang grabbed Ruby and pushed her forward, using the nice rainfall to her advantage.

"Yup! Now march!" Ruby compared the cruel irony from when she forced Jaune to march. Seemed like only an hour ago they ran into each—never mind.

"We'll never find a Grimm in the rain!"

"Not with that attitude, Rubes!" Yang threw her fist forward, grinning in victory. "You just got to believe in—ah!"

 _Slam_!

Ren and Ruby watch as Yang was head-butted from her side by a horse looking Grimm that appeared out of the darkness of the woods. It galloped through the trees, taking Yang along for the ride as she hung onto its majestic mane. It took about ten seconds before any of the four Huntsmen-in-Training properly respond to such a scene.

Not another second wasted, Ruby was racing through the trees, running after the Grimm. "Yang!"

Both Jaune and Nora join up with Ren again, looking off to where the trio headed off to. Nora was the first to ask, grabbing Ren by his soaked sleeve. "What kind of Grimm was that?"

"I don't know, I didn't really get a chance to see it." he answered honestly, beginning to walk before increasing his speed to catch-up with them. Soon Ren was dashing through the trees. "But we better hurry! That Grimm didn't look weak. Not to mention it's fast."

They ran through the forest, following the sound of Ruby's voice. The constant rainfall made it hard to hear. The droplets getting stuck in there face didn't make the run any easier. Only Jaune Arc seemed to be able to phase through the compromising conditions, most likely due to the Water Dust aiding him in the cold element. Didn't mean he fared any better when it came to trailing Ruby's voice, his footwork simply allowed him to maneuver in the rain a lot easier than most. Although he could do without all the pesky tree branches getting in his face, a guy could only take so much before losing it.

Then the trees start to lessen, and before they know it, a clearing came into view. Well, not exactly. It wasn't a clearing per se, more like an area with a large body of water surrounded by a forest floor. Almost a lake, but not quite there yet, more like half-and-half really. Trees and vegetation were popping out of the water, sticking out haphazardly from the murky water. Plants grew on top of the dirty water with the sound of the rain drowning out other outside noises. Whatever the area was, they could see Yang and Ruby by the edge of the water with no Grimm in sight. And Ruby was checking Yang for damages, but her older sister was patting her on the head in good faith.

Sliding up to them, Nora held out her weapon, looking around the area. "Where'd the Grimm go?" The remaining duo pulled out their own weapons, checking the area for the Grimm, but it was nowhere to be seen. Nora was more than stumped. "Where'd it go? I can't see it anywhere!"

To answer her question, the water at the center of the lake began to wave out, breaking apart to allow a long face to intrude out the shadowy water. Piercing, small red-eyes peek out first with the Grimm in question's mane coming next. None of the water seemed to affect its movements one little bit and the Grimm made a show for this by advancing out with no effort from the hydraulic pressure. The more it moved out, the more they could all see the monster. Its hooves were solid bone, along with most of its muzzle, forehead, and poll. The legs were almost entirely coated in bones, minus the locations of its knees. Parts of the Grimm's crest were bone-plated with its black-mane sticking out from cracks within the bone-plating. Back and loin were missing a good chunk of armor and the tail moved freely to the harsh wind picking up. Finally, there was green moss growing on some of the bone, telling either of an advanced age or likeness to an aqueous condition. Either way, the Grimm had lived a long, long time.

Then they all see it, a relic wrapped around the Grimm's powerful neck, haunting and teasing them. The shape resembled an N partially attached to a P. The N dangled off its top and had a slight curve connecting to the P, but it was a relic nonetheless. And Yang was the first to make a move, preparing her Ember Celica for her upcoming battle. The horse Grimm and human lioness stared each other down, manes powerful and ready, natural enemies through-and-through.

"Stand back, guys! This one's mine. Darn thing suckered punched me! There's no way I can leave now without getting my revenge."

No one moved to stop Yang, allowing her to act out her revenge, but it was Lie Ren who recognized the species of Grimm attacking them. He moved forward and narrowed his glare at the horse Grimm huffing her down, stomping its boned hooves inside the swamp it inhabited. The Grimm then charged out the swamp, butting heads with Yang, bone-plated head to gripped fingers, forcing a small stalemate to occur before the Grimm shoved her up with its head, throwing her partially into the swamp.

"That's an Each-uisge."

* * *

 **Author Notes:** With great hair comes great responsibility.


	4. Ivory

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing of RWBY.

* * *

 **Ivory**

 **By: Imyoshi**

The calm before the storm was ghostly quiet.

 _Splash_!

Rising out of the water like some sort of water zombie with a large splash, Yang stood up with part of her body still submerged underneath, hair completely soak and covered in vegetation, spitting out a trail of murky water while using one of her hands to move her wet bangs away from her eyes. They immediately lock onto the horse Grimm a few feet away from her, standing majestic and tall, the only way a horse could or know how, Grimm or not.

It was enough to make Yang's teeth show.

"Humph, what's with the _long_ _face_?" Yang smirked, eyes full of mischief and promise of more.

Everyone watching could've sworn the Each-uisge _hoofed_ at the bad pun. The shaking of its head only seemed to reinforce that idea, and then the two were off without any warning given for the party watching, well, except for the lightning in the background, but that was all coincidental and cosmetic.

Yang charged forward, riding off Ember Celica's thrust to propel her forward with a battle cry fit for a battle-hungry warrior. The Each-uisge met her head-on, galloping toward the brawler from the shallower part of the sag pond, clashing heads with the fierce hunter. The collision behind the force pushed them both apart, and Yang crashed her foot into the dirt, beneath the water, to lessen her momentum, while the dirty water saved the Grimm from suffering any backlash.

Dashing forward, the Kelpie charged with its head out, picking up speed with three times the _horsepower_. Yang didn't even have time to move, forced to bring her hands up to block the bone plating coming toward her. Her hair got in her way, wet and all, so she didn't see the Each-uisge twist its body to kick her with the back of its hooves, sending her out the pond and across the now muddied floor.

She slid for a moment, getting muddy and all, but the rain pelted away the dirt. The brawler then got up, moving her wet hair back, smirking viciously at the horse Grimm glaring coldly through the bone plates. They test each other, moving around in a makeshift circle as the rain continued to pelt down hard. They were natural enemies to the bitter end. Human vs. Grimm! Huntsman vs. monster! Horse vs. lion! Fire vs. water! Rivals to the ends of time! So long as one of them drew a breath!

Dashing once more, Yang leaped forward, aiming directly for the Grimm's head. She managed one quick hit before connecting with a painful uppercut that toppled the Grimm up on to two of its legs. Then her eyes widened when the Grimm tried to break its two front feet down, narrowly missing her as she jumped back with the help of Ember Celica, but it wasn't enough.

Yang didn't even get time to properly land before the Kelpie crashed right into her, dragging her body across the muddy floor. Its hooves topple her once or twice before she managed to roll away, getting back on her feet the first moment she can. She prepared herself, throwing both her arms back, waiting for the Each-uisge to make a full one-eighty. And when it did, Yang made her move, firing her shotgun shells to give her that little boost she needed to deliver one hell of a haymaker to the Grimm's long face.

The momentum behind the punch sent the Grimm back into the water. The action led to Yang showing off her muscles. "Take that, Seabiscuit! I wouldn't want to look at your mouth!"

 _Splash_!

Galloping out the water, the Grimm charged for Yang, picking up speed by the second that was fueled all by anger and desire—the desire to shut her mouth! Yang simply grinned, feeling the burn in her muscles. Her fists ache for another shot. Her temper demanded she pummeled this horse down. And her instincts scream at her to finish it. She was a Huntress in her own rights, it was what she did.

Running forward, Yang shot a few more rounds out of Ember Celica at the Kelpie, hitting it a few times in the nose, before jumping up to attach herself onto its neck when it was distracted. The Grimm struggled in her hold, thrashing about as Yang held onto dear life. Her anger rose and before Yang knew it, her Semblance took hold, intensifying everything around her. A wildfire spurred to life, instantly drying off both the Each-uisge and her with none of the rain having an effect on them.

For a split-second, Yang was riding a flaming horse, then they were both toppling into the water as Yang used her new strength to grip the Grimm's neck tightly. Slowly, ever so slowly, they get dragged into the sag pond, delving deeper into the murky waters without care. Eventually, they were both submerged in the water, bubbles rising to the surface the only indication they were still breathing, and the rest of Huntsmen-in-Training panicked. The bubbles then stopped, raising the group's panic up a notch, but relief was close at hand as Yang reemerged from the depths of the lake, breathing heavily and no longer protected from the rain by her Semblance. And each step out of the lake was a slow and tired one, but the smile on her face was next to impossible to miss, even more so with the relic gripped tightly between her fingers.

Pumping her fist forward, she jumped out the swamp, almost dancing practically back to the group. During the routine, Yang wrapped the relic neatly around her neck, proudly showing off her achievement with boasting success. Humble be damned.

She ran up to the slightly stunned group, showing off her trademark grin with her wet hair completely covering her eyes. "Guys, did you see that?! I took good care of that _seahorse_! Man! After that workout, I'm so hungry I can eat a whole horse!"

It was no secret that Ruby groaned, but this time her normally reserved groan for Yang's bad puns was doubly powerful since her sister managed to get a relic, while she was left without one. It didn't help that Yang continued to make bad puns, laughing at her own one-sided jokes with no one else tagging along. Luckily, for all of them, Jaune went to stop her, or so they thought.

He moved forward, cutting through the mass of bodies to stand directly in front of Yang. He then grinned at her through his own wet bangs. "Yang, get off your _high horse_!"

Silence followed soon after, except for the steady drumming of the rain, but it was a heavy silence nonetheless. But Fate was cruel to the remainder of the group, ending the rain just as abruptly as it had begun. So there was nothing to hide Yang and Jaune's grinning reaction.

Both the blondes laugh long and hard, eyes completely covered by their wet hair, not caring about the clearing skies around them, or the people around them for that matter. A good laugh was a good laugh, and Yang had such a hard time finding _someone_ with a great sense of humor. Ruby wasn't the best person for jokes. Terrible actually, but she didn't tell her that.

"Not you, too!" Ruby cried, arms dangling out in horror. "There are two of them now! I can't even handle the one."

Jaune grinned toward Ruby's direction, eyes covered. "What's wrong, Ruby? You're looking a little _horsed_."

"Ah!"

...

Exiting out the forest and onto a dirt path back to Beacon Cliff, the warriors enjoyed a nice stroll back to the cliff, all except for Ruby who was still sulking about having not found a relic. She was hunched forward, counting down the minutes until initiation was over. Occasionally, she resorted to crackpot philosophy to hide away the pain. It was a bad type of pain.

"It's hopeless! What's the point of it all? We live and fight and then die. That's life for you in a nutshell. It's a joke! A cruel, sick joke!"

Ren peered over to Yang, poking her on the shoulder. "Shouldn't you be fixing that?"

Yang innocently blinked, throwing a casual glance over to Ruby. Her baby sister was a cloud of depression in a clear-blue sky day. Suffice to say, someone should do something about that, but Yang was trying to get Ruby to get out of her shell. Interfering now would only backlash the progress. So if Ruby turned out to be one of _those_ people, well then, she tried. Her dad wouldn't be too upset.

"Eh?" Yang shrugged, showing not so much emotion. "It'll work itself out."

Trailing behind the depressed Reaper, Jaune had his hand out, showing Nora how he absorbed and created new Dust shards based on the Dust output and input he had. Now he was going over how to release all the Water Dust trapped inside him, creating a wet shard in the center of his palm for Nora to amaze over it. Not a bad way to entertain her and it did allow him to practice to some lackluster degree. Such a shame he was lacking in Water Dust, though.

"And that's how I make my Dust!" Jaune pocketed the weaken water shard, pulling out the remaining Dust shards for Nora to look over. "Not all of these have the same amount stored, but they're all better than any Dust you can buy in the stores. But I am out of Lightning and Fire Dust. I kind of used it all up already fighting off some Grimm."

Nora grabbed his hands, pulling them forward to see all the super Dust. She pouted her lip for a moment, grabbing the first Dust shard she could. "Oh! What does Earth Dust do?"

Thinking it over for a moment, Jaune honestly couldn't recall. "You know... I don't think I've tried it yet. I guess now's the time to find out!"

Pocketing the rest, he played with the heavy shard, smirking scientifically at the new Dust discovery waiting to happen. Fire, water, steam, and lightning had all interesting effects. He couldn't wait to see what earth did. Just like his curiosity, the possibilities were endless. Not to say he didn't know what earth did normally but mixed with his abilities, he was tempted to find out the newest limits.

Absorbing the earth shard, the effects, like all Dust, was immediate. His skin felt strange like he was covered in a layer of dirt and sand. His upbeat attitude was sort of gone. Not gone-gone, but his eyes proved to be more resilient to change. Whereas to water and its ability to shift to fit the flow, or fire and its burning personality, the earth was more stubborn, resolving to not change.

Energized on Earth Dust, Jaune's steps were heavy and reinforced with his skin being rougher to the touch. There was dust all in his hair. Rock fragments cling to the end strands, hanging half-haphazardly to the side. The ground beneath his feet felt alive, vibrations danced across the floor with each step, and he felt a pull aching from the tips of his fingers, desperately reaching out for the ground underneath him. A little tug if anything, but the feeling was there and he casually lifted a finger up, only slightly surprised the earth moved along, draining a partial amount of the Earth Dust trapped inside.

Experimentally, he threw his arm back in a wide arc, like he would do for water, finding no earth to move alongside the movement or any rocks to suddenly appear out of his body. Next, he threw a fist forward, again finding nothing happening. Reaching out for the familiar tug this time, Jaune concentrated and threw his hand up with a quick step forward, surprised to find the earth following along, only not as perfect as he'd come to expect. Then he tried a second time, standing completely still, finding no movement this time.

"I don't understand. This worked fine for fire and water?"

"And therein lies the problem." Ren suddenly chimed in, intruding into Jaune's demonstration. "I'm guessing you're still getting the hang of your Semblance?" Jaune timidly nodded. "You should know that not all elements move the same. I'm betting fire and water is different. So that must mean so is earth. You should probably try and figure out a different way to move the dirt."

Jaune appeared stubborn to Ren's idea, stomping his foot for good measure, which broke part of the ground beneath him, splitting it apart with a small tremor. He looked down, along with everyone, and did it again, only more controlling than before, and the ground beckoned to his movements. Curiously, he threw a fist forward, toward a nearby tree, getting no reaction. Next, he did the same thing, this time throwing his foot forward as well, raising a single eyebrow when the earth split forward from the floor and a large rock crashed into the poor tree.

Ren didn't put much energy into stopping his light smirk.

Pushing himself, Jaune pulled on that same tug resting beneath his fingertips, forcing the rocks beneath his feet to lift alongside him, floating aimlessly in the air with his hands outstretched. The stones move to his command, as long as he put enough force and will for it to move, dancing across the hair like giant bullets!

Throwing his head back, Jaune sighed a breath of relief, and then one of despair. "It looks like footwork is needed for earth. Perfect! At this rate, I need to practice with my whole body! Why do I even need a sword at this point?! I might as well start practicing on a punching bag."

Nora ran up to Jaune, slapping the poor guy on the back for encouragement. "Don't worry; I'll help you... for some Lightning Dust!" It was a one-sided deal. She was then looking at his dirty hair. "So... why does your hair change? It didn't change when you were super cold?"

Grabbing a strand of his messy hair. "Honestly, I don't know. Could be because of the property of the Dust? I think it only happens when I have a supercharged one? I'll have to mess around with it more to find out."

Hair-wise, his Dust knowledge only took him so far. Everything else was all up to him. Heck! He was still partially in denial about the whole control over Dust thing. Never mind the hair problem. It was almost as boring and unneeded like Ruby's bee's knees matter—totally misplaced and not important. Yet, somehow, they keep correlating together like some bad puzzle with the pieces bent.

 _Roar_!

Hearing the telltale sound of trees being torn apart, the group turned around and saw someone running away from a giant scorpion Grimm—a Death Stalker. There was a relic in her hand, most likely from robbing it from the Grimm, and her lush, red hair spoke of proper care. But that wasn't what caught all their eyes, no; Jaune was looking at the gold metal she was wearing. The Earth Dust embedded in his soul called out to it, and Jaune reached out with a stubborn hand and summoned up a wall of rock to block the Death Stalker from crushing such a refined piece of metal.

 _Crash_!

Losing control of its speed, the Death Stalker collided with a pack of trees, having been stunned by the sudden surprise of the ground rupturing up. It didn't have the time to properly dodge or think during the collision, and its prey was already running off to the others of her kind, standing awkwardly away when she finally spotted them.

Yang threw an arm around Jaune's neck, grinning like a fool. "Nice going! That Semblance of yours sure is handy!"

Sure! Jaune had no problem when it came to uplifting that wall of stones, but the move itself stole a lot of his Earth Dust. Apparently, the farther away he was, the more Dust was needed to enact whatever powers the Dust infused inside him. In other words, he needed to keep his attacks close to the earth. A longer distance fight was not something an earthbender needed to deal with.

Jaune tched at Yang's claim, already seeing one major flaw with his power, handy or not. "I only have so much Dust. It's not an unlimited source."

Yang found his newfound stubbornness a little off-putting, she already missed water-Jaune, that guy could go with the flow, but she shook him anyways. "Aw! Just take the compliment already. Don't be like Ruby."

 _Well_ , with an argument like that, he was more than forced to accept the compliment. No one wanted to be like Ruby. Always talking about the end of life and putting everyone's mood down with all her relic talk. It was enough to drive a guy insane. Who needed that in their life? Not Jaune Arc, Dust expert!

Laughing along, he pulled a rock from the floor with his powers. "I guess it is pretty hand, isn't it."

"Hello!" the mystery girl yelled, running up to the group. It appeared like she'd been running for a while now. "Thanks for the help."

Upon closer look, Jaune recognized her as Pyrrha from the locker room—Rainbow's friend. She was breathing heavily, exhausted obviously from all the running, although, Pyrrha did appear to be grateful. For what, he wasn't totally sure. Either for finally outrunning the Death Stalker or finally finding other people, most likely even both. Nonetheless, Jaune saw the relic dangling in her hands. It was two arcs with a line cutting through the dead center.

When she finally reached them, her eyes land on Jaune first. Immediate recognition flashed in her eyes. "Oh? It's you again? From the locker room! Jaune, was it?" Her eyes trail over to the floating rock where his hand was outstretched. "Thank you for the help, I cannot tell you how long I've been running from that Grimm back there."

Before anyone else could add in, Ren was cutting into the conversation, pointing in the direction from where Pyrrha came from. "Speaking of the Grimm... it's coming right for us."

Getting ready, the group prepared for the Death Stalker dashing forward, weapons ready and Aura charged. Nora and Ren broke apart at the very last moment, moving in two separate directions around the Grimm while Ruby and Yang lunged forward with their weapons firing. Meanwhile, both Pyrrha and Jaune stand back, the former still exhausted while the latter changed up his foot placement.

Taking the time to move his eyes away from the preoccupied Grimm, Jaune glanced over to Pyrrha, glaring at the Dust embedded within. On Pyrrha's outfit were some Gravity Dust and Fire Dust. They were located inside her weapon, most likely meant for bullets and projectile use, and there was a strong urge in him to reach out and absorb the Fire Dust, knowing he was more versatile with fire over earth. He had zero time to practice earth. Although to be perfectly fair, his firebending wasn't something to write home to his seven sisters about, he was just more confident in that area over earth.

Testing himself, Jaune stepped down on the floor, forcing the earth to move to his hand movements. Rocks move up, ignoring the law of gravity with all their might. Everything was so foreign to him, yet, at the same time, it was all so instinctual that the force behind the thrust of his arms was anything but new.

The rocks zoom forward, tackling the Death Stalker squarely on its stinger with a pain far greater than either fire or water could conjure up in the blink of an eye. The Grimm's eyes were locking onto him soon after, releasing a roar that pushed everyone else back. It charged dutifully and mercilessly, and Jaune lifted up his forearms by instinct, creating a barrier made of dirt and stone.

It held for a bit, weakening quickly to the crude design behind the structure of the stone. Jaune didn't even realize the barrier was broken until Pyrrha was pulling him away from a charging Death Stalker, narrowly getting him away from the danger before it was too late.

The momentum used to pull Jaune away was great, enough for them both to fall down onto the floor with a slide to go along. The others were already quickly gathering in, firing whatever projectile weapons they had available to pierce the tough armor of the Death Stalker. None of it worked. Their attacks were proving to be ineffective. And the Grimm only grew angrier by the seconds.

"We need a different plan?" Pyrrha yelled. "Our current one is proving useless. That bone armor is just too thick to pierce."

Ren ran up to Pyrrha, sliding Jaune a glance. "Maybe for our weapons... but what about a giant boulder? Something heavy enough to crush or at least hold it down while we make a run for it?"

Jaune cracked his neck in a few places, sliding his foot across the earth to feel the limit of his range. It beckoned to his will, vibrating underneath the soles of his shoes. The control was there, but the experience was missing entirely. Not only that, but a lot of it was mud. Simply reaching out for the rocks dormant within the mud seemed like a challenge already. Perhaps, with enough time, he could lift something large enough up, but that was all up to the Earth Dust not wasting away inside of him before then. It was a matter of time.

Fixing his stance, Jaune gripped his fingers tight, extending his control over the earth around. "Can you buy me some time? This is going to take a while."

Ren sighed, glaring away at the Death Stalker charging at them. "Not like we have a choice." Running off to distract the Grimm with the others right behind Ren, Jaune was left behind to summon a large boulder. "Try not to take too long!"

Ren joined the others in the fight, sliding underneath the Death Stalker with his weapons unleashing a hailstorm of bullets on the Grimm's underbelly. Nora was firing grenade after grenade at the Grimm, while Ruby and Pyrrha distract it, out-maneuvering the Grimm's claw and stinger strikes, leaving a wide enough opening for Yang to deliver a few quick jabs at the Grimm's multiple eyes.

Their strategy was solid, but the damage output was clearly nonexistent. Neither of Ren or Nora's bullets proved to be strong enough to break through the armor plating, nor were the other three proving to be anything but a minor nuisance at best. Eventually, the Grimm was going to pick one of them off. Who would be first? That was all up to who made the first mistake or who tired out first.

It was a waiting game.

Finding his center, Jaune frowned as he threw his hands up after a minute of concentrating and useless hand movements. All in all, the earth was difficult at best. It was heavy. It was strong. It moved only when large thrusts of movements were made. Every one of Jaune's movements couldn't be wasted. There needed to be will and control behind every kick and push. Nothing else would suffice. Water and fire may be allowed to more versatile, but earth needed a strong guide to make it move. In exchange for such dominance, power came alongside with it.

Feeling his Earth Dust draining, Jaune bared his teeth, finally forcing a large boulder—the size of a dorm room—to be lifted from the ground. It hung in the air, a testament to his control, or lack of thereof. Holding the large rock up was almost all he was capable of. The needed will to move it was painstakingly lacking. He was actually starting to sweat from the strain.

"C'mon, Jaune-Jaune! Hurry up!" Nora cried, landing a solid hit on the Death Stalker's dome with her hammer. She was then hit by its tail, sending her across the forest.

Glaring his eyes, Jaune waited for the right moment to strike, taking the blunt pressure digging upon him. His hands began to tremble, but he held out, finally seeing an opening when Yang landed a nasty looking uppercut to the Grimm's mandibles. The punch was enough to daze the Grimm momentarily, keeping in place as it shook away the spots and it might be his only chance to finish this.

Throwing both his hands forward with a lot of force, the giant bolder moved to his command, slowly floating over the paralyzed Grimm. When it finally eclipsed the Death Stalker, he let go of his control completely, watching the bolder instantaneously fall to gravity's will once more, crushing the Grimm underneath. It was only when the Grimm began to turn into ash, could the group finally relax once more. Well, except for poor Ren. He was off to find Nora.

Sensing only a tiny fraction of the Earth Dust still existing inside him, Jaune fell back onto the first tree he could find, sliding down onto the floor with a lazy sigh. He wiped away the sweat from his forehead, wishing to Monty he had some refreshing water to drink. Not to say he wasn't tempted at the idea of drinking Water Dust, but he knew the implications behind such an act. Not one he wished to partake in. Especially more so with his Dust-Dust powers adding their own flavor to the batch of crazy that was his new life.

Resting his head on the bark, the sun's rays were blocked out by Pyrrha. She stood over him with a misplaced smile, trying for the life of her to figure him out. First Jaune crashed into Weiss and her back at the locker room, and then he ignored them both with little resolve. It was an oddity for the invincible girl. Never before had she met someone who could simply go-with-the-flow, more importantly around her? Yet, Jaune could've just been busy the first time he ran into them. Maybe he didn't even notice who she was at the time.

Pyrrha wasn't sure on how to go about it, so she decided upon the route of small talk. "So, your Semblance allows you to control the earth around you?"

Opening one eye, Jaune cast a tired glance her way, still feeling the effects of moving that large boulder. "Hn... not exactly. I have complete control over Dust." To demonstrate, he created an Earth Dust shard in his hand from the remaining inside of him, before reabsorbing it again. "Whatever the Dust is... my power is. Kind of stinks that I only have a limited supply, but what are you going to do."

Pyrrha didn't know whether to blink, or gasp, or tilt head, or do all of the above. She'd never heard of a Semblance like that. There were a variety of Semblances out there, no doubt about it, but to be able to freely control Dust? Now that was an enigma of a Semblance if she'd ever heard of one. And she controlled all things metal with her polarity.

"That's... interesting..."

Jaune laughed hard, sliding his feet out more to rest them out in the sun. It felt great to just lie about in the sun and enjoy the heat after all the fighting he'd done. Helped that Pyrrha had a sense of humor, not Yang's level, but pretty good still.

"I couldn't have said it better myself!"

Picking himself up, Jaune dusted off the dirt from his clothing, but ignored his arms and overall skin, knowing any dust he removed from there will simply regenerate from the Earth Dust acting out. Like water and lightning, they got a mind of their own. One of which Jaune Arc had no say in. A little hurtful, but he toughened it out.

Pyrrha smiled, offering out her hand. "I've actually come here to say thanks. If you hadn't have summoned up that wall back there when you did, I don't think I could've kept running for much longer."

Gripping her hand, Jaune shook it slowly. "Hehe, no problem! Call it even for ruining your conversation earlier."

"Well, then." Pyrrha hummed. "How about we start over? Hello, Jaune, I'm Pyrrha Nikos."

There, she'd given him the bait, now all she had to do was wait for the recognition to flash across his eyes, as it did for everyone she ran into, but it never came. He simply threw her an easier smile, one filled with complete honesty and total cluelessness.

"What's up, Pyrrha! I'm Jaune Arc! Dust expert!" Something told him his ladies line won't work on her. If it didn't work on Ruby, there was no point in trying a second time. "So... I see you got your relic. Did it have something to do with that Death Stalker back there? Please tell me that wasn't all for nothing."

Surprised he didn't recognize her, Pyrrha looked down at the relic hanging on her neck, feeling a blush begin to build up around her nose. How she got the relic wasn't something she would rather get into. It involved with her building a torch, losing said torch, and then tugging a Death Stalker's tail. Not exactly something a four-time champion should or would be doing. But no one else had been around, and a cave seemed like a likely spot a Grimm would hide. It wasn't her fault there happened to be a Death Stalker in there. At least she got the relic.

What more do people want from her? She was only so invincible.

"Don't worry..." Pyrrha waved off, acting very nonchalant about it with an awkward smile. Her eyes couldn't even meet him, and that laugh of hers wasn't doing her any favors. "It wasn't all for nothing."

Taking her word, Jaune broke off the eye contact to see Yang running up to them. Ruby wasn't far behind, sulking since Pyrrha already got the relic from the Grimm. Ren was still off searching for Nora, so who knew how long that was going to take.

Yang lunged right at him, re-wrapping her arm around his neck. "Way to go, Jaune! See! What did I say?! That's one heck of a Semblance! I'm kind of jealous!"

Chuckling alongside his fellow blond, Jaune finally accepted the compliment with an open mind. He was still skeptical about his powers, but it helped to have someone push him up. Yang kind of reminded him of one of his older sisters. Anything that reminded him of his family was more than enough to bring a smile to his face.

Tagging alongside the two fools, Ruby fell to the ground, hating her luck. First, she couldn't find a relic, then she was bombarded by a bunch load of Grimm, the weather had been terrible, and now the day was almost over. At this rate, she was never going to find herself a relic. So much for being the bee's knees! Looked like Yang was totally wrong.

Ruby kicked her foot in the dirt, grumbling to herself as she flopped down onto the floor. "Why me?"

"I'm back!" Nora suddenly yelled, popping out from the trees with Ren right behind. His hair was covered in twigs with Nora none the better. "What'd I miss? Did we win? Or are all four of you ghost now?"

Jaune used the remainder of his Earth Dust to throw some mud onto Nora's face, finishing off her Mother Nature look. His smirk was impossible to miss, and Ren was simply wondering why he was setting himself up for such torment. Of course, no one missed the way Nora ran after Jaune, threatening to bury him twelve feet under.

Ren ran a hand through his hair, sighing loudly. "And here I thought Nora was going to drive Jaune crazy. To think I was wrong. This is going to turn out much worse than I had planned." Peering down at the broken Rose, Ren grabbed Ruby by the cloak of her hood and pulled her back up. "C'mon, get up. The day's not over yet. Don't give up."

Ruby sulked in Ren's hold. "Easy for you to say, you have your relic! You're fine no matter what happens."

Ren glared, pushing her to stand. "Then I'll help you look. There's no reason to give up. We'll definitely find another relic with how our luck's going."

Feeling the fire in her stomach begin to burn, Ruby settled her nerves, feeling much better after Ren's pep talk. She stopped to look at the man, prepared to say thanks for the words of encouragement, but her eyes fall onto the pink strand of hair resting easy between his raven locks.

She was in his personal bubble in a flash, pointing at the lone strand of pink hair. "Hey!"

Ren didn't seem affected by her close-proximity. "What? What is it?"

Blinking a few times, she stood on her tippy toes to level with him, not quite reaching his height. Apparently, she needed to drink more milk. "Your hair has a pink strand in it!"

"Yea, so, my hair does that. It's all natural."

Confused, Ruby grabbed the reddish strands of her own hair, feeling slightly better. "So is mine! I've never seen anyone else with hair sort of like mine." Roaming her gaze elsewhere, she settled on Ren's unusual eyes. "I don't think I've seen anyone with pink eyes before, either."

"That's funny..." Ren added dryly. "I've never seen anyone with silver eyes."

Grinning now, Ruby felt a lot better. It wasn't every day she met someone sort of like her. Now if only he dressed in all black or had some sort of cloak or something, then Ren could almost pass for someone related to her. Their bone structure—face wise—was sort of similar. They even have that small indent in their hairline that twisted in one direction. Ren was going left while hers went right. It was almost funny now when she looked at it.

"So?" Ruby pried, poking her fingers together with acute curiosity. "Can I see your weapons?"

Seeing no problem with it, Ren pulled out StormFlower, showing it off to Ruby. She seemed really attracted to the blade attached to his guns, expecting the size with her hands, counting down imaginary numbers only she could read. Ren did something even better. He flipped the guns over onto their barrels and pressed them together, starting up a mechanism that combined the guns together, forming a bow-like weapon with two long-bladed curves to act as the upper and lower limbs.

Pushing his hand forward, Ren added a little Aura into the makeshift sight window, feeling a string of Aura connect alongside his fingers. "My Aura acts as the string." He pulled back the string, adding a bit more Aura into the weight, creating an arrow made out of pure Aura. "And my Aura also acts like the arrow."

Stunned, Ruby opened and closed her mouth a few times; feeling internally conflicted on whether or not to add such a design to Crescent Rose. Ren, on the other hand, was silently wondering why he didn't use this on the Death Stalker. The Aura arrow could've possibly pierced through the bone plating of the Grimm, maybe even made their job a hundred and ten percent easier. Oh well, live and learn. That was one of life was more cruel and wise lessons.

Taking a chance, Ren allowed Ruby to gush over his weapon, using the opportunity to check up on Nora and Jaune. The Dust expert was still running away from Nora, laughing like no one's business, while his childhood friend was chasing him with her hammer. Suddenly, through the run, Jaune slowed down, looking as he was feeling drained from all the running. Except it was far more than that, it actually looked like his body was hurting significantly.

Probably didn't help with Nora smashing him on the side with her hammer.

Moving through the air, Jaune crash landed right next to Ren, smiling foolishly from the ground. There was a pained expression on his face—either from Nora's hammer or something else entirely—but he fought it off to get up, ignoring everything around like nothing interesting just happened. Granted, his movements acted to be sluggish and it appeared that he was completely out-of-breath.

"Jaune?" Ren asked, helping his fellow male up. "Are you alright?"

Jaune wanted to say no. Out of nowhere, during the run he had been struck by a sudden sickness that spread across his body, practically mirroring the one from earlier that morning. Fatigue hit him like a Bullhead, spreading pure slack all across his body. That was how Nora ended up catching him. A moment she probably wouldn't ever let him forget, but he was digressing.

Maybe it was just a heat stroke from the sun bearing down on them. After that wacky rainstorm, the clouds had quickly broken apart, revealing a sun Jaune could've sworn wasn't that hot before.

"I'm fine, perfectly good! I just need some water." Reaching into his pocket, Jaune pulled out the remaining Water Dust shard, quickly absorbing the weakened shard. The effects were somewhat quick, lacking in the original power of a supercharged Dust shard, but he did feel totally better. So he wasn't complaining, but he did kind of miss having the constantly wet hair. "See! I'm all better!"

Ren had no way of arguing, so he let it go. "Shall we head back to Beacon Cliff now?" Looking around, he found Ruby still playing with StormFlower and Yang and Pyrrha talking about female things. Nora was running back to them with a victory smirk plastered across her face. "Ready to go, Nora?"

Sliding on the heels of her boots, Nora invaded Ren's personal bubble, saluting her friend. "Yup-yup! Let's go! I'm hungry! And you need to make me pancakes!"

Ren accepted his Fate with a good heart, already counting down the ingredients he was going to need to make Nora's breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the next four years. During the internal counting, a ruffle of leaves grabbed his attention, and he looked up to see a sloth Grimm with a relic similar to Pyrrha's perched between its claws.

"Would you look at that... a relic?"

"Relic!" Ruby suddenly chimed in, pushing past most of the group. Her silvery eyes spot the relic between a tiny sloth Grimm's claws, the creature itself was latched onto a tree, observing the group with bored fascination. Instantly, Ruby was on the defensive. Who wouldn't be after all their rotten luck? "Watch it! This Grimm can be merciless! It can be a killer in disguise. Waiting for us to drop our guard! Oh! Then we'll be easy prey! Easy prey!"

Ren fought the urge to roll his eyes. A Grimm of that nature posed no threat to anyone in this group. It was only an ironic twist of Fate that they managed to find another relic so fast. Nora gushed over how adorable the Grimm was and skipped over to it.

Shaking in place as she brought up her hands in a pleading sort of way, Nora cooed adorably to the little guy. "Hiya, little cutie, would you mind giving me that pesky old relic? It's really special! And I really want it. Pretty please with a whole lot of syrup on top!"

The sloth Grimm tilted its head at the orange-haired female, finding the smile she was showing haunting and promising of death, then the Grimm glanced over to the male hanging behind her shoulder, emotionless as paper, eyes neither cold nor hot, neutral in every way, shape and form. A mutual kinship was passed between the stoic creatures and the little Grimm dropped the relic into Nora's hand, _booping_ her on the nose for fun before climbing back higher into the tree to sleep the day away. Lie Ren envied the Grimm for its carefreeness.

How unfair.

Grinning to herself, Nora held up both her relics. "See! That wasn't so hard! Now I got two! One for both hands!"

Composing herself, Ruby tried not to let the circumstances get to her. She instead reached out with a needy palm, shaking terribly in place. "C-Can I have one?"

Nora hugged the relics protectively, shaking her head with unequal vigor. "Nope! Get your own! These are mine!"

Ruby excused her timid composure, burning with a fire stronger than Yang's. She was zooming in front of Nora with her arm reaching out. "But you already have one! You don't need two! Just give me the extra one!"

Fighting off a protesting Ruby with a palm to her face and leg to her stomach, Nora pushed off Ruby trying to steal her relic from her with Ruby throwing her hands out wildly, hoping for the best. They go on like this for a few minutes. No one stopped them. Jaune was busying digging up a piece of Dust buried a foot in the dirt. Pyrrha was watching him dig up said Dust shard, interested in his ability to find Dust after she asked what he was doing. Yang was basking in the sun, acting very lazy-like.

Finally, Ren stepped forward and plucked the relic out of Nora's hand, holding out of reach from both of the protesting girls. Silently, he glared over to Nora, pinching the bridge of his nose as he dropped the relic into Ruby's desperate hands.

"Nora. I'm just gonna give it to her so we can leave already." Playing his strengths, Ren _booped_ her on the nose. "The faster we get back to Beacon, the faster I can make you your lunch. I'll even throw in some strawberries into the batter mix—!"

"Strawberries!" Ruby zoomed in, eyes sparkling with hope. The relic was pressed tightly against her chest. "You're making pancakes with strawberries in them! Can I have some, too? Pretty please! Oh! And maybe with some chocolate chips?!"

Before Ren could get a word in, Nora was grabbing him by the sleeve of his green tailcoat, pulling him stubbornly back to Beacon. There was a pout on her lips with a blush to tag along, as if she was acting very childlike, but Ruby didn't seem to notice as she grabbed Ren by the other half of his sleeve, pulling him forward with equal or greater childlike stubbornness.

At the back end of the group, Yang was hitting Jaune on the ribs with a teasing smile, eyes filled with untold amounts of merciless mischievousness. That grin of hers reminded him of a cat, and on some level of understanding, Jaune saw why. Having seven sisters will do that to a guy, but he was still relatively left out of the loop.

"I think Ruby's getting a little attached." Yang couldn't wait to tell her dad this. "It's not every day Ruby meets someone that sort of looks like her. She's already having problems being the special one at Beacon, but it looks like Ren has no problem getting her to come out of her shell."

Pyrrha was confused. "Special?"

"She's only fifteen." Yang waved, enjoying the way Ruby tugged at Ren's sleeve.

Pyrrha paused, taking the time to observe Ruby. "I thought she looked young. But two years is impressive."

"Yeah... ever since, she's been trying to lie low, but Mr. Tall and Gloomy over there has been a real help." Yang pointed at Ren. "It helps that they kind of look alike. I think that's why Ruby's getting so attached. We look nothing alike and a lot of people say that."

Jaune took Yang's words with merit. Now that she mentioned it, they do sort of look alike. It would help if Ren was dressed in black, but he wasn't. Ruby just looked like the younger, female version of Ren. Minus the lack of emotion, but that might only reinforce Ruby's new attachment only further. Siblings were still different in their own way. And as far as Jaune could tell, Ruby was an explosion of emotions while Ren was the one disarming said explosions with his manual of casualness. A perfect bond to be forged upon and Yang didn't seem to mind if Ruby invaded someone else's personal space.

Throwing caution to the wind, Jaune pointed toward the cliff. "So... can we leave now? This stopped being fun when we ran into that giant firefly!"

Yang frowned. "Oh, live a little! This is just starting to get good!"

Taking her advice, Jaune waved out his arm in an arc, splashing Yang with some of his Water Dust. "Is that living a little? There's plenty more where that came from."

Drenched—after finally getting dry—Yang punched Jaune in the arm, splashing him with some of the water trapped in her mouth. He splashed her a second time, instantly putting Water Dust on his top favorites list. The list itself was still in beta as Jaune failed to utilize and try out all the possible Dust combinations and their effects on his body, but as of now, nothing was going to overtop water.

"I'm going to beat you down to an inch of your life." Yang warned through her wet bangs. "And then I'm going to laugh, laugh long and hard."

 _Splash_!

Pyrrha Nikos found herself afraid to be left alone with these two. Jaune's watery and go-with-the-flow personality didn't seem to take any of Yang's threats seriously, and the small steam building up on Yang's topple of hair didn't calm her nerves down at the least.

"Oops! My hand slipped."

...

Peeking behind the pack, Pyrrha smiled sadly for the poor Arc, but to be fair, he did splash Yang many times, essentially poking a lion with a very pointy stick. So Pyrrha wasn't completely going to show sympathy for the man who was forced to carry Yang on his back, all the way back to Beacon Academy, but she still pitied him. Pitied and thought oddly of him.

Carrying a brawler on his back, the Dust-Dust user sighed when Yang yelled _march_ over and over again. After wrestling him down, she had asked—demanded—he carry her back on his back. Jaune didn't really get a say on the matter, low on Water Dust and Aura after all the fighting. Plus, Yang kind of reminded him of one of his older sisters, just less brawly. So he was getting kind of a soft spot for her, which was downright terrible in its own right, but as long as Yang didn't realize this, then his life was spared.

Grinning in victory, Yang wiggled in place. "Faster! You're not going fast enough!"

Peering up, Jaune grimaced. "The Jaune Arc model only has one set speed. It's called slow."

Yang pouted with a cross of her arms. "Dust! How did I get stuck with the bad model! My motorcycle can go way faster than this!"

"Yea..." Jaune fought back, hiding a grin. "But the Jaune Arc model can talk. And I have a variety of different options to choose from. Like how about this weather? Crazy am I right?"

Looking away from the two fools, Pyrrha glanced over to Ren, Ruby, and Nora. They were less rowdy than Jaune and Yang, but there seemed to be a competition going on for Ren's attention. Attention, which, he didn't seem too keen on giving. The only big difference was Ruby was trying to get Ren's attention like a younger sibling did for the older one, while Nora was more intimate. It was not obvious by any means, but Pyrrha was a champion without any friends. She had spent a lot of time reading novels, some of which turned out to be romance novels. Spotting a jealous, but secretive Nora wasn't too difficult for the champion.

Maybe it was better tagging along with Jaune and Yang.

Finding Yang's light body easy to carry, Jaune concentrated on the remaining Water Dust swimming around his body. Ren's words were bouncing around his head. The ones about the elements all requiring a certain touch to make them work and go, and he was absolutely right. Not only that, but Jaune found his mood somewhat changing depending on the element he was concentrating on, at least when it came to a supercharged Dust shard.

Whenever he used an element, his personality somewhat changed to fit that element. Fire led Jaune to be more aggressive, it led him to power. Fire gave him the energy to pursue his desire and will to beat the Autonomy. Power, such a fitting emotion for such an aggressive element, nothing like water's abilities.

Water allowed him to have a deep sense of community for his fellow prankster. He was willing to change in an instant to fit a role. Wetting the Lampyrid's wings and thinking on the spot was him adapting to the circumstances. It also allowed Jaune to fit into Yang's personality with ease.

He didn't know what wind will lead him to, but earth so far had made him strong and diverse, it'd given him the substance to be persistent and enduring, and also very stubborn to change. Earth was solid and powerful. It was also slow, far slower than both fire and water, but stronger in the regards of overall physical strength and durability. Unlike the other two, Jaune actually had to grip the force beckoning beneath his fingers, unable to simply whip out or thrust his forward to get results.

"So, Jaune?" Pyrrha suddenly asked, pretending Yang wasn't there. "Dust expert?"

Jaune showed off a proud smile, always ready to brag about his Dust knowledge. It was what essentially got him into Beacon and allowed to grow his Little Buddy. Without it, Jaune probably would've ended up cheating his way into Beacon. And with his lacking swordplay, he might've resorted to such underhanded tactics if not for his Dust knowledge.

Maybe, when he was younger, he wouldn't have shared much about his keen interest in Dust, combat school certainly didn't help with that, but he was at Beacon Academy now. Little things like appearing weird to people no longer seemed so bad after the day's ending. Besides, after what Ruby told him about her bee's knees, he had grown something akin to a backbone. He had to with him forced to carry Yang around, but the point of the matter was Jaune was willing to express his love for Dust.

Screw those people back at combat school! They all failed that Dust exam he passed with a perfect score! Which might have been the reason they all failed? Didn't matter now!

"At your service!" Jaune gloated. "I got into Beacon with a perfect score on the Dust exam!"

Pyrrha blinked, vaguely recalling such a story. "I remember hearing about that. Some teenager wounded up getting a perfect score on their Dust exam, severely lowering the passing rate for many aspiring Huntsmen back in his combat school. Dust exams normally are heavily curved." Jaune remained silent, even after Pyrrha poked him on the shoulder. "Wait a minute! That was you?"

"Yup!" Jaune answered, ignoring the way Yang's arms squeezed around his neck.

Pyrrha couldn't hide her smile, remembering the lack of students enrolling. "You're the reason enrollment is at an all-time low. I heard there was a riot back at your school."

Yang threw in her own two cents. "It's kind of funny how your Semblance gives you total control over Dust!" Yang remarked with Jaune hiding his lopsided smile. "Must be like a dream come true."

Sure, his Semblance, that was what he'd go with. "Eh, I just got lucky. But I'm still getting used to it. I haven't even tried all the types of Dust yet. Wind and gravity are next on my list!"

Leaning on his back, Yang rested her chin atop of his head. "Think you can make me some special Dust for Ember Celica, Dust Boy?"

Jaune frowned. "It's not exactly easy to make Dust. I got to already have some to make them special. I can't just make Dust out of thin air."

"That's..." Pyrrha added. "Inconvenient."

Jaune shrugged without care. "It's not so bad. Occasionally, I can feel some spare Dust lying around," he lied, not wanting to reveal his ability to see Dust or to absorb Dust from far away spaces. "Like earlier. And Dust is cheap!"

Yang huffed. "Cheap or not, you're still making me some Dust later. I could go for some supercharged ember shells. And you can't say no!"

Pyrrha appeared guilty, seemingly having fallen into Yang's line of thought. "I would also like some supercharged Dust. Perhaps you could supply me with some as well."

Jaune raised a single brow. What was he? A Dust shop? It wasn't like he could just go and find Dust whenever he—okay! So maybe he could, but didn't mean he wanted to. Selfish or not, Jaune wanted all the Dust for himself. Only his Arc pride had stopped him from robbing all the Dust from those poor bastards on the Bullhead, and he was still trying to figure out whether or not that was the right course of action.

"Are you at least going to pay me for doing it?"

Yang poked him on the cheek, resting quite comfortably on his back. "Nope! Why do you need money when you have us?"

Jaune slowly learned that the price for friends was a steep one. No wonder he was friendless back in combat school. Who could afford to have friends on a low allowance income? Not this guy.

"At least let me keep some of the Dust."

"Fine... but only if you move faster! My legs are starting to fall asleep!"

...

Finally reaching Beacon Academy, Jaune dropped Yang onto the nearest couch, not realizing how much an extra hundred and twenty pounds could feel after a long three-mile hike back to Beacon. He was ready to sleep the day away and then some. The remaining Water Dust in his body felt even lighter than he remembered as well, but he forgot about that as the group began to settle into the ballroom. Well, all for except Ren, he was busy trudging over to the kitchen to make both of Nora and Ruby's pancakes.

Jaune had never seen a dead person's eyes before. Now he knew they were the color pink.

Settling into the couch, Jaune extended one arm out, playing with his Dust powers. The Water Dust in his body moved to his hand, coating the skin with a layer of moisture the second he tugged at that pull within. He could see the glow begin to weaken inside his hand, signaling the drainage of the Water Dust. All of his Dust knowledge demanded he experimented some more, to find out the reason behind this, but lifting his hand up was draining enough. Maybe after his back stopped hurting from carrying Yang all the way back to the ballroom.

Releasing his hold, the glow moved up his arm and entered the center region of his chest. There it remained, glowing only for him to see. Down in his pockets, he saw the Gravity Dust, Smoke Dust, Wind Dust, and Ice Dust just waiting to be used. Their glows varied in size and intensity, a feature he was slowly getting used to. As far as he could tell, glows meant how strong each individual Dust shard was. Simply put it, how much Dust each one contained.

It wasn't exactly groundbreaking for the Arc, just interesting to observe on a grander scale. With his new Dust powers, he could practically change the science behind Dust. Damn! He could probably figure out how to make Dust fly into space if given enough time, and he had nothing but time at Beacon Academy. It wasn't like Dust class was going to be an issue. But to learn more, he was going to have to learn about footwork and arm placement. Those seem to be the key features behind each Dust based attack. And to make matters worse, none of them correlated together. Each form of element bending required body correlation he simply lacked.

In the end, Jaune was just tackled with more riddles to solve. He wasn't too worried about the learning curve of his new powers. He'd only had them for two days. Mastering any power or subject took patience and fortitude. Easy enough for him, he had plenty of practice with both. Growing his Little Buddy did take ten years. If that wasn't patience and fortitude, then he didn't know what was.

Playing with the relic resting on his chest, Jaune wondered who his partner was. Ren and Nora ended up being together with his help. Pyrrha and Ruby were stuck together as well, but Yang and he have two different relics. Neither of them was destined to be partners. Kind of sad, Jaune was really starting to like Yang. He was confident they'd still hang out after their teams were chosen, but Fate was a cruel one for not pairing them up.

"So you're my partner?"

Jaune looked up from playing with his relic, eyes landing on the rainbow of Dust named Weiss. She was tapping her foot impatiently on the floor, clearly waiting for something to happen. Whatever it was Jaune didn't know. What he did know was that Weiss was holding onto a relic similar to his own. The scowl on her face didn't look mean on purpose, but she failed to try to make it better with any attempt of a smile.

Getting up, he reached his hand out. "Looks like it! I don't think I got to fully introduce myself from before. Jaune Arc at your service!"

Upon hearing his full name, Weiss, just like Pyrrha, recalled the name with high interest. Pyrrha wasn't the only one who'd heard of the boy who passed the Dust exam with flying colors. Anything Dust related was Weiss Schnee's game. To think! She got the guy who destroyed the previous Dust exam records with a perfect score. What luck! It might not have been the partner she originally wanted, but it was definitely better than the girl that sneezed on her, that was for damn sure.

She gripped his hand in a firm, businesslike handshake. "Weiss Schnee."

This time she did smile.

* * *

 **Author Notes:** Just imagine this story as a mix of **One Piece** and **Avatar the Last Airbender**. Dance is where it's at.


	5. Frost

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing of RWBY.

* * *

 **Frost**

 **By: Imyoshi**

Weiss Schnee?

Jaune Arc knew that name. It would be a surprise if he didn't. The Schnees were the biggest Dust manufactures around. What were the chances _that_ he would run into one at Beacon, or that one would become his new partner or the fact that it was Miss Rainbow of all people? Lady Luck must be laughing her guts out.

He shook her hand like a machine, rhythmic, slow, and precise. "Weiss Schnee? That's who you are?"

Weiss _harrumphed_ , temporarily forgoing her smile altogether. "I would think _you_ all of people would know who I am. You are the one who scored a perfect score on their Dust exams."

"You heard about that?" Her frown remained. "What? Cut a guy some slack here. I know your name, not your face. You could have had purple hair for all I knew. I didn't even know that _anyone_ in the Schnee family wanted to become a Huntsmen, doesn't exactly pop up on the Dust News Daily."

She pursed her lips together. Of course, Jaune read Dust articles. She would expect nothing less from him. "Be that as it may, we're partners. You're not exactly my first choice in a partner, but you're far from awful. You're actually a very close second compared to everyone else."

A normal person would've taken those words with hidden malice, but the Arc knew the overall attitude of the Schnee family from Dust reports he'd read in the past. Not exactly a friendly bunch of individuals, even their sugarcoated words were sour to the taste, but power tended to do that to a person. And he had to work with Weiss for the next four years. Getting off on the wrong foot didn't sound like a good _first step_.

Apparently, he remained silent for a beat _too long_ , because she was coughing into her fist with something akin to remorse. " _That_ sounded harsher than intended. Excuse me for that. It was rude of me to say."

He waved off her concern with a simple smile. "Don't sweat it. Remember, I'm Jaune Arc at your service and all we Arcs come with a lifetime smile guarantee. See!" Jaune pointed to his pearly whites. "Totally unscathed!"

Weiss tried her hardest to hold back a smile. A losing battle, one Jaune had the pleasure of witnessing firsthand. "Are you always so bold?"

"I survived initiation, didn't I? Think I earned it."

Weiss shot him a light smirk. She moved past him to sit her butt down on the couch, legs crossed and eyes closed. He didn't wait too long to follow suit. They didn't talk to each other. Not to say they couldn't, but as Jaune had pointed out, they survived initiation. Their bodies were sore. _Their_ spirits weakened. Talking was best saved for when they have more energy to _burn_. Not to mention they have the next four years together. Why ruin that all with useless _idle chatter about the weather or something_? Of course, they were only teenagers. They could only stay quiet for so long.

Surprisingly, Weiss was the first to break. "I must ask. What were you doing with all those empty Dust crystals, anyway? You had so many that you couldn't see past two feet in front of your own face."

Thinking it over for a moment, Jaune finally sighed and dug into his pocket. "Well, since we're partners, I might as well let you in on my little secret." Really, there was no point in hiding it. Weiss opened her eyes to see him hold up a single shard of Ice Dust. "I'm a Dust user."

She snorted, figuring that much. "Well, obviously you use Dust, Mr. Dust expert." Weiss waved her hand in confusion. "What I can't see is what you did with all that Dust. Your sword and shield don't appear to have any Dust functions. And carrying around that much out on the battlefield is improper."

Jaune looked down at Crocea Mors resting by his feet. She wasn't wrong. His family had never been big on the whole Dust thing. It'd always been more of a problem for him if anything. It had been for the past ten years of his life. Still, Weiss was both right and wrong. Carrying around that much Dust on the battlefield was usually wasteful and overbearing, but not for him.

Jaune smirked, opening his other palm for her to see. "Maybe for you, but I'm different."

Willingly the remaining Water Dust to travel up his arm, Jaune used his Aura to create a weak fragment of Water Dust with the glow being extremely weak. Weiss was stunned, having never seen a Dust shard crystallize into thin air. Her surprise was only heightened when the Ice Dust suddenly lost its icy texture and turned into a ghostly white crystal. She was about to ask where it went but was stopped when Jaune's face began to transform in front of her eyes.

Less than half his face gained a sheet of ice that spread from the bottom of his chin to the upper corner of his forehead. His hair, ever so blond, absorbed in a shade of white as noticeable chunks of it froze in place and remained that way. Each breath the Arc took released an air of frosty mist, and he didn't seem to be affected by it in any way.

Jaune threw his hand forward, fingers stretched, instantly calling out the ice to cover parts of his hand. He pocketed away the Water Dust. "I'm still getting used to it all. But I can control and store Dust in my body. And I can even combine them together to make a supercharged crystal of Dust. Neat, huh?"

When Weiss finally processed what he just said, she simplified it the best way she could. Her tone remained slow and impervious. "So, you're a walking Dust shard?"

He pouted his lip, blowing out mist. "That's... one way of putting it."

She threw her hands out, denying what she just said. "No. Wait. That's wrong. It doesn't sound right. Let me try this again." This time she poked Jaune on the chest. "You use Dust and you _are_ Dust. Wow. Okay. You're like a walking contradiction. Maybe I'll call you Dust-Dust for short. Because you like to use Dust and you are Dust." Jaune's cold exterior wasn't safe from her playful smirk. The ice on his face spread more. She had to ask. "Does that happen a lot?"

Touching his face, he was not at all surprised to feel a sheet of ice expanding from one corner of his skin. He moved his hand up to touch his frozen locks, getting used to the Dust's abnormal properties on a human. Perfect for him, he still had a few more to test out later. However, he was oddly amazed he couldn't even feel the ice spreading across his cheek, almost like the element was part of his actual skin. What a conundrum for the Dust professional.

Jaune shrugged a second later. "It only happens when there's a lot of one type of Dust in me. Not when I have only a bit. But just give me some time, I'm still learning as I go along." He pointed to her pocket and then her rapier. "I can also feel some Dust, which means I can feel the various amounts of Dust you got hidden away in your outfit and weapon. And you sure carry a lot."

Every time the Arc opened his mouth, the Schnee found herself getting more impressed with her new partner. His control over Dust was game-changing. However, it sounded like Jaune only recently discovered the power, but that was fine for her. Semblances manifested themselves whenever they wanted. There was no correct way to unlock them early on. They pretty much did what they wanted from point A to point B.

"I must say, a Dust expert, a Dust Heiress, and a walking Dust shard. We make quite the pair—hold up! _Create_?" Weiss echoed, backtracking a few words back. "You said you could create supercharged versions of Dust, as in stronger versions of a Dust crystal?"

His answer was cold and clipped. "Yeah? So?" Weiss said nothing. He was quick on the uptake. "You want me to make you some supercharged Dust as well, don't you?"

She flipped her hair back, fighting the urge to tap her foot impatiently. "Well, obviously. That goes without saying. I'm not asking for a handout. I'm willingly to supply you with some Dust for your cooperation. Call it a business trade."

Jaune looked away and blew out a mist of cold air. "Sure. Sounds good."

Weiss frowned, feeling everything misplaced. What happened to Mr. At Your Service? She missed that dork. She had quite enjoyed his witty banter from before, especially since he didn't hit on her. Obviously, the boy held respect for her name, but he didn't allow it to consume him. Weiss liked that. What she didn't enjoy was Jaune's out of nowhere personality change; it was more refined and direct than the last. There was no more fun and games. Emotions were thy enemy and their executioner was dubbed Jaune Arc.

Luckily, she had never been one to beat around the bush. "What's with the sudden attitude adjustment? I would've thought the chance to brag to a Schnee about Dust would've made you happy? Why the sudden the cold shoulder?"

Jaune showed a lack of happy. He was as cold as the ice encompassing part of his face. "Huh? Oh. Don't mind me. It comes with the Dust change. You should see me hyped on lighting; I talk a mile a minute. I guess cold kind of makes me an Ice King, wouldn't you say?"

She didn't hide her one-sided humor. "You're a walking mood ring, more like it."

" _You're_ a walking mood ring." Weiss sighed pleasantly. That was better. Jaune was acting way too much like a businessman for her comfort. At least not his entire attitude was gone. She could work with that. And the pout on his lips was very humorous. "Don't be jealous I can actually give you the cold shoulder."

"Well, it's weird. Go back to normal." He did no such thing, so Weiss poked repeatedly in the chest. "If I wanted to deal with stuck-up, emotionless robots, I would've stayed home. Come on, Ice King!"

Jaune stared at her for a minute, cold to the touch. His eyes lacked emotion, appearing frozen in place. The air around him had gotten colder over the past few minutes they've talked, and he was positive that his blood was no longer standard body temperature. He knew he wasn't like this with Ren and Nora; then again, he hadn't possessed a supercharged shard of Ice Dust controlling his body temperature and overall outlook on life at the time.

How quaint.

Blinking once, Weiss was still waiting for him to change back, actually tapping her foot this time with an annoyance. Jaune grumbled and then tched and held his palm out. Aura quickly snuffed out the Ice Dust hiding his body into a shard with a bit less ice. It glowed with power in his palm, stronger than any other shard of Ice Dust than either Weiss or Jaune had ever seen. Then he was pocketing it away, fishing for the last of the Water Dust, quite liking water's go-with-the-flow boldness. And during the small process, the ice from his hair and face had broken off and melted away before it could even touch the floor.

Before he absorbed the Water Dust, Jaune crossed his arms. "You're bossy, you know that?"

"I'm not bossy!" she huffed. "I'm a clear-thinking individual. And I'm only looking out for what's best for our team. And having an Ice King on board is not something we need."

"Team?" Jaune echoed with the drainage of the Water Dust. He felt it swim up to his chest, the same as his skepticism. "What team? It's just you and I."

"We're getting a full team after the ceremony. Didn't you already know that?" Jaune scratched his neck, embarrassed and full emotion. "I can't believe you. It's not just us. No Huntsmen Academy has only teams of two; it's always teams of four. When have you ever heard of a team of two?" All the Arc did was smile at her misplaced frown. "Whatever, follow me, the ceremony's going to start soon. We should head over to the auditorium for the correlation."

Jaune moved like water, allowing Weiss to control the ripples and passage of flow. There was a fraction of a victorious smirk etched on her cheeks as they traveled to the auditorium. She tried to hide it. Too bad Weiss wasn't very good at being subtle with her intentions. The girl might as well be balancing off a chair to get her point across. Didn't mean he was going to call her out on it. It might throw everything off-balance. What the current balance or status quo was he didn't have the foggiest idea.

Along the way he spotted Yang still lounging on the couch, apparently talking to someone who held the same relic as hers. The mystery girl's hair was pitch-black and she wore an adorable bow. There was an uneasy air about her, but then again, Jaune couldn't say that was very suspicious on the account he'd yet to say a single word to her. Maybe he was just being paranoid because Yang was one of his first real friends, as sad as that was, or as annoying as that was.

His back still hurt from carrying her all the way back to Beacon.

Suddenly losing interest at the thought of Yang's new partner possibly being a sociopath in disguise, he was stopped by a hand to his shoulder. Quickly he turned around to find Ruby and Pyrrha tagging along, smiles both wistful and pleasant, that was until Ruby spotted Weiss; now the weapon nerd was a little timider and broken off. By no means was her smile gone, but Jaune frankly remembered the Little Reaper sneezing on his partner the day before. It didn't take a genius to see why Ruby was suddenly hiding behind her partner.

Jaune grinned into his wave, attracting his partner's divided attention. "Hey, Pyrrha! Hey, Rubes! Done sleeping like a couple of rocks?"

"Greetings, Jaune." Pyrrha smiled, holding amusement in her eyes. When her eyes landed on Weiss, she sighed sadly. "Hello, Weiss, sorry we couldn't be partners like you wanted. I guess it wasn't meant to be."

The Heiress blinked, totally lost. "Partners? Oh? Oh! Right! Right! Partners, yeah..." Weiss trailed with an absent wave of her hand, having completely forgotten about the Pyrrha Nikos in favor of her walking Dust shard. "It really is a shame. Oh well. These things happen."

Pyrrha was completely blown away by Weiss giving her the cold shoulder. The champion would've thought she would've been more adamant about the whole thing. Just this morning she was all about them teaming up. Now it was merely a passing footnote for the Dust heiress. Almost like something better came along? But who could be better than her? Not like she was one to brag or gloat, but Pyrrha was pretty damn sure no one else but she could capture the Heiress's interest, hence the sudden spark in confusion for the champion.

"That's good..." Pyrrha forced, still trying to come at odds with everything. "I'm happy it all worked out in the end. Right, Ruby?" No response. "Ruby?"

Looking around, Pyrrha found the two dorks going over meaningless topics, mostly conversing on the subject of odd hairstyles to their favorite Saturday morning cartoon, but what finally sparked a heated discussion was what should be appropriate dress wear for a Huntsmen. Ruby was pretty adamant about the integrity of combat skirts, Jaune, not so much.

"I'm telling you, Ruby, combat skirts just rip up so easily. Open your eyes."

Ruby huffed, cheeks puffed as she pointed to his torn up jeans. "Oh yeah? What about those?"

He looked down, clearly prepared to defend his claim with sound and simple logic. "What about them? You know jeans don't count. This is how they're supposed to be. And they're stronger and tougher than combat skirts. Face it, Rubes, combat skirts are impractical."

"And what's wrong with combat skirts?"

Jaune did not falter under his partner's icy-death stare. "Did I stutter? Combat skirts equal bad. It's as simple as one-two-three."

Weiss couldn't decide whether to hit Jaune on the head, or between the eyes, but she didn't have to. Her building anger was switched over to Ruby hiding behind Jaune, using him as a makeshift barrier between the two of them. Clearly, she hadn't forgotten about the sneezing incident that happened before. How could anyone forget the person who sneezed all over their face?

"You..." Ruby looked scared. Jaune had his hands out, calming down his partner with a figurative wall. Weiss was forced to suck in a breath. "Just, just don't sneeze on me again. Try to cover your nose next time. I don't want to get sick because of your poor etiquette."

"Okay!" Ruby squeaked, still using the Arc as a wall. "No problem! It'll never happen again." Somehow both Weiss and Jaune doubted that. It just seemed like the Ruby thing to do. "C'mon! We're going to be late to the team ceremony. We don't want to miss that!"

It was the lamest cop-out ever. They took it anyway.

...

The team ceremony went as expected. There was cheering, a powerful speech, and then the waiting for the second speech to finish. During the whole ceremony, the Arc was forced to look down and avoid getting blinded by the glows of Dust hurting his eyes. He was able to ignore it before—with Weiss and the others having used up a good portion of their Dust during their initiation—now, however, he was stuck looking down as the Headmaster spoke about nonsensical things like emotion and heart as a headache brewed terribly.

Why couldn't people put their Dust away?

"And now we begin with the new teams. Russel Thrush and Cardin Winchester, you, along with Dove Bronzewing and Sky Lark, shall now be known as Team CRDL." Ozpin announced to the entire stadium, voice loud and powerful. "You each collected a respective relic that bonds you with your partner. And then you four had worked together to complete your mission, so I'm placing you together as a team, and I'm making Cardin the leader. Wear the mantle with pride."

The auditorium cheered louder and Ozpin moved to the next group. A large screen above his head presented Pyrrha, Ruby, Ren, and Nora for the next team creation. "Pyrrha Nikos and Ruby Rose, just as well, you, along with Nora Valkyrie and Lie Ren, shall be now known as Team PRRN." He flicked his gaze toward the champion. "And congratulations, Miss Nikos, you are to be the leader of this team. I know you will do well."

Pyrrha accepted the leadership position with pride. Ruby laughed and slapped her partner's arm, thanking her lucky stars that she wasn't the leader, too much work and not enough strawberry cookies. Nora was just happy Ren was on her team and the ninja returned the sentiment by silently side-hugging her with one arm when she wrapped both her arms around his neck.

Finally, Ozpin looked to them, clicking the bottom of his cane down to get the screen to switch. Besides him and his partner, all that was left was Yang and Yang's partner, and the Arc was forced to look up, trying not to flinch from the blinding glow assaulting him in a sea of color. Every ounce of his being beckoned him to simply reach out and absorb the Dust glows, if not only to just rid himself of the burning lights, his Arc pride fought against him every step of the way. Not to say he wasn't tempted. Every second was like the removal of a brick to the wall he'd built.

"Blake Belladonna and Yang Xiao Long, along with Weiss Schnee and Jaune Arc, you four shall be known as Team ABYS."

On the plus side, at least Jaune now knew the anonymous person's name. Blake Belladonna, a mysterious name for a mysterious girl, a fitting name with her sleek-like appearance, and clothing with attachment to anything black, along with a quiet personality and strong set of amber eyes that pierced through the crowd.

Oh? Headmaster Ozpin was still talking. "From this day forth, you shall be led by Jaune Arc." A quiet hush of speakers spread across the crowd, and Ozpin stopped them all with a simple wave of his hand. "I know you are all getting anxious to get on with your days, so I'll make this brief." Jaune didn't see that as a problem. He was pretty sure a few of these students heard about his perfect Dust scores. There was no way none of them hadn't. "I believe in you, Mr. Arc, show me the results of your studies. That is all."

That made two of them. The Dust-Dust user wasn't exactly too keen on the idea of being a leader, and he wasn't the only one, Weiss, too, was hiding back skepticism as the crowd began to break apart. She was fuming slightly, but couldn't get completely angry since she knew nothing of her partner's true skills or abilities, outside of being a Dust nerd. Still, she couldn't help but voice her own thoughts, however misplaced they might be.

"I can't believe they have chosen you as the leader." She walked up to Jaune, hands crossed and pout strong.

Jaune laughed hollowly, scratching the corner of his face. "Me neither. I kind of don't want to be leader. You can have it if you want. We'll just go run up and talk to Ozpin about it."

Weiss blinked. Her expression remained the same and her heart beat harder in her chest. Just like that, she'd been offered what she truly wanted on a silver platter, so why did it look so unappetizing? Maybe it was because he offered it to her like a second thought—like it was a leftover meal? It'd be one thing if he didn't deserve it, or even acted childish about it, but Jaune simply didn't want the position. Kind of seemed like a pity award. If she was going to be a leader, she was going to earn it fair and square. Ozpin chose this goofball, not her. And above all else, Weiss Schnee _didn't do pity_.

What kind of motivation was that?

How would she be able to be a leader under those conditions? Trick question, she couldn't. "No chance, Jaune. You're the new leader of Team ABYS, so get used to it! I expect a lot out of a fellow Dust enthusiast. We have an image to uphold."

He went with the flow. "Alright. What choice do I have, anyway? I doubt Yang wants it, or Blake for that matter."

Yang came up from behind Jaune and wrapped her arm his neck. "You thought right! Screw being leader, that's a sucker's job. Right, partner?"

Blake pouted her lip slightly, thinking over the question. To be a leader required motivation, a loud voice, outgoingness, leadership skills, smarts, and most importantly they kept busy by planning activities and doing all the messy paperwork whenever a problem happened? Could she do that? Could she be the voice of reason in a group full of teenagers? Of course not! Who was she kidding? How was she going to compete with the guy who got a perfect score on the Dust exams? That was illogical. Of course, Ozpin chose the right person for the job.

It really was a sucker's job.

"Right." Blake said in a calm tone. She walked over to give both Jaune and Weiss a tight smile. "Hi. I don't believe we've had the chance to introduce ourselves. I'm Blake Belladonna. But funny enough, I know you two already. You're Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Family Dust Company. And you're Jaune Arc, the guy who broke a lot of potential Huntsmen's' dreams with a simple test."

"You make it sound like it was a lot of work." Jaune bragged with his Dust infused brain coming out to play. "It was just advanced Dust properties and the ramifications of mixing and breaking the chemical bonds of potential elements. Simple."

Blake stared; she stared long and hard before turning to Yang with a not so subtle finger pointed to the Arc. "You seem to know him better. Is he always like this?"

Yang waved her hand. "Don't worry, he's cool, but can be a bit dorky. And watch out when he absorbs Lightning Dust. That stuff packs one hell of a punch! It's like hugging an outlet." Blake was only more confused. Who would ever hug an outlet? "Oh! That's right, you don't know. This blond noodle here has a Semblance that pretty much makes him a walking Dust mine. He sees Dust, he absorbs Dust, he becomes Dust. All in that simple order! It's pretty sweet!"

The new girl quietly looked between Jaune and Weiss, eventually settling her sights on Jaune. "And that's your Semblance? You're a walking Dust mine, and you're partners with her, of all people?"

The irony wasn't lost on him. He wanted to laugh. "I'm more of a walking Dust shard." Jaune abbreviated to no avail. "But, yeah, that's my Semblance. Dust master, right here!"

Okay, sure, like Jaune Arc was going to tell his teammates he spent the last ten years of his life painstakingly taking care of a seed for the off chance it'd grow—which it did, ironically, but that was beside the point—he needed to live with these people for the next four years. Telling them that he got his Dust powers from a magical fruit might be pushing his realm of normalcy just a tad too far. No. It was far simpler to let them believe this was just his Semblance, as crazy and downright insane as the idea sounded. And Jaune Arc knew it was pretty insane. The idea behind the mechanics of his own powers hadn't entirely wrapped around his head just yet. Forget about trying to explain it to his new friends and teammates.

Blake hummed, eyeing Weiss with some unguarded disbelief. "Isn't that ironic, the Heiress to a Dust company and a Dust expert on the same team? What are the odds of that happening?"

Weiss had nothing to hide. "What? It wasn't my fault the cards fell that way, they just did. Sure, it's lucky, but sometimes you just get lucky. It happens. I'm not complaining." She peered over at her partner, glaring. "Right, Jaune?"

"Uh... maybe we should get out of here?" Jaune offered with his shoulders up. "I want to get some practice in with my Semblance before the day ends." He stomach growled. "And I'm hungry! Fighting Grimm really builds up an appetite!"

"I heard that!" Yang jumped in, trapping poor Jaune in yet another headlock. She already pushed him toward the cafeteria. "C'mon, Dust Boy! Let's go see what's for dinner! Oh! I hope they have steak, and maybe even some soda? Do you like meat? What am I saying? Of course, you do!"

"I'm more partial to fruits and chicken. Not so much tough meat." Jaune wheezed between the headlock, dragging his feet to keep up with an overly excited brawler. "Sometimes I can go a salad. But I don't hate it."

She increased the pressure around his neck, determined to show the noodle the error of his ways. "Ah! You just haven't had the right tasting steak yet! That's why you're such a noodle. Not enough protein, but we'll work on that! We'll turn those flabby things you call arms into real muscle!"

It was sad because Jaune really couldn't break out of her hold, proving her point of him being a weak, blond noodle.

...

Sitting down with his plate stacked to the brim with pork chops and steaks, Jaune stuck his fork into a random piece and held up to his mouth, ready to chew the saturated piece of protein. Yang was back in line, getting her own tray of food, telling Jaune that this one was just for him and him alone. Meanwhile, since Blake and Weiss didn't follow them here, he guessed they went to go check out the room situation. Jaune just wasn't so sure he could sleep in a room with four beautiful women. Sisters were one thing, girls not related by blood was another issue entirely.

Just as he was about to take his first bite, a rough hand grabbed him by the shoulder, forcing the Arc to turn around and greet the stranger. Well, he wasn't exactly a stranger, he knew his name, they just haven't said a single word to each other.

"Hey, I'm Cardin, but I'm guessing you knew that?" Cardin smirked, offering Jaune a hand. The Arc shook it and the man sat down next to him, eyeing the food in Jaune's plate. "Are you—?"

The Arc was more than ready to offer him some. "Please, take some. I can't finish it all!"

"Sweet!" Cardin stabbed a steak with a second fork he found on the table, before biting heavily into it. He chewed it for a bit, enjoying the savory taste of well-cooked food. "So, anyway, you're the guy who caused a riot in his old school, right?" Jaune nodded slowly, unsure how to act. Cardin just smirked into his chewing. "Nice!"

Taking the compliment with stride—especially since it was the first time anyone openly praised him for it—Jaune couldn't help but scratch his head in embarrassment. "Yeah, I guess it was kind of funny. The name's Jaune Arc by the way."

Slugging down the food, the newcomer pointed at a girl with bunny ears, sitting alone in the Mess Hall. What she was eating, he couldn't see, but Cardin didn't need to know that. He was just making sure his new friend saw what he was looking at.

"Hey, you see that girl over there?"

Jaune looked over and spotted the loner girl he was pointing at. "Yeah? What about her?"

"She's a Faunus."

Jaune couldn't quite see the point behind Cardin's smirk. He thought it over. But nope! Nothing of significance was coming to him. Maybe he should ask more?

"I'm still not seeing your point. Are you trying to get me to look at her ears? I will admit, they're cute." Jaune tilted his head to get a better look at her. He liked the way her nose twitched. "Actually, she's kind of beautiful. Don't you think?"

Even Cardin couldn't deny that. "Yeah, yeah, she is..." He slowed his train of thought down, trying to prevent himself from derailing. "But that's not the point. What I'm trying to get at is that she's a Faunus, a bunny Faunus! Do you see where I'm going with this?"

Then everything _clicked_ together in the leader's head. He remembered overhearing guys like Cardin talk about Huntsmen academies, and how they were vastly different to combat schools, but he was at a school for Huntsmen. If he'd learned anything back at combat school, other than Dust, was that if a person was old enough to kill, they were old enough to do more adult things like drink. So why should this be any different! And she was a bunny Faunus, even if the thought was a bit prejudice to all the bunny Faunus.

"I think I finally see what you're getting at." Cardin sighed. Finally! "She's cute and the bunny Faunus is all known for being kind and gentle!" What?! "And you're right! After the whole riot incident, I came to Beacon with a new start in mind! I'm going to go ask her out! What's the worst that can happen?"

Almost everything in Cardin's mind came to a complete halt. His train crashed. His thought process needed a second to reboot itself back up. Just the little things remained intact after Jaune revealed his sudden determination. He was surprised the Arc would go for her. Don't get him wrong, the Winchester could appreciate a smoking hot girl just like the next guy, but she was a Faunus! At the same time, she was a _bunny_ Faunus. Mother Nature's cruel gift to a man like himself.

Just because those excruciating, tiny things called shorts, and the skintight black stockings, that left almost nothing to the imagination, haunted his thoughts, didn't mean he was suddenly going to cave. Not to mention he'd always been a leg man and damn did those legs go on for days, with the Holy Grail being her cute, little butt and perfectly thin waist—ah!

Damn it! If he backed out and let Jaune go talk to her, after saying all those things, it'd look like he was too chicken to say a word to her, not like he wanted to, but he couldn't back out now because he'd look like a fool. And Cardin Winchester was no silver medal. He was a gold, damn it! A gold!

"No!" Just as Jaune was getting up, Cardin was shoving him back down onto his seat. "I'm going to go ask her out. Just watch and learn, Arc. This is how it's done!"

The poor man didn't know what he was doing. His feet were moving him toward the girl. He didn't have a syllable saved up. There was actual fear clinging to his heart. In his haste, Cardin didn't realize he was still holding the large, forked steak in his hand, and when he got a closer look at what she was having for dinner, his eyes were widening in pure disbelief.

Waffles!

Of all the things she could've been nibbling on, it had to be waffles—his favorite! That wasn't even a dinner item and she was already ten times better than all the losers eating bland, tasteless food around them. Of course, she was building some tiny little fort with them, why not! Why make things any easier, right? That'd be asking too much from Monty himself. If this girl ended up hating carrots, someone was going to find themselves on the opposite end of righty and lefty.

Bunnies were such a meek creature. Even the Faunus genre still preferred to avoid confrontation if necessary. So when the one named Velvet Scarlatina noticed a large, tall man moving toward her with such an air of confidence, that was almost predatory, she acted stunned like a deer Faunus caught in headlights. Except her petrified state didn't last too long, not when she noticed his blushing cheeks and reddening face.

When he finally got close enough to her, Velvet's predator just stood there, right in front of her, lost as badly as she was. Now that he was getting a better look at her, the leader of Team CRDL couldn't help but compare their outfits. They both wore a skintight, black one-piece. Apparently, they hated wearing much else; Cardin's armor, in the end, didn't cover much, exposing his midriff, just like hers. Their hair was a different shade of brown, but still in the same color palette.

Not exactly sure on what to say, he held up the mostly whole steak and asked the only thing he could. "You wanna share?"

Velvet didn't know what to say. She'd seen Cardin watch her from afar, thinking perhaps he didn't like her for her ears; it wouldn't be the first time. Now she wasn't so sure. Could it be he was flustered and nervous? No. Couldn't be, could it? It was so hard to figure out with him just standing there, holding a piece of steak that honestly did look appetizing.

"Oh... Okay."

Sitting down, Cardin held back a puff of air. He wasn't doing this because he was interested; he just needed to show Jaune up. So what if her innocent, wide doe-eyes did something to him, or that he was just noticing how well-toned and perfect her legs looked. He was stronger than that! His father taught him the difference between humans and Faunus—!

Chomp!

Unable to hide his surprise, the leader turned to see a huge chunk of his steak bitten clean off his fork, with the culprit chewing away guiltily by his side. She had an irresistible smile on her face as she thoroughly devoured the meat, constantly twitching her nose and body in happiness. And when she noticed him watching her, she blushed, chewing the food without so much as remorse or shame, but still had the tact to lick her lips.

"Oops, sorry for that, it just looked so good I couldn't help myself." Velvet apologized, kicking her feet underneath the table. "I work out a lot on my legs, so I need all the proteins I can get, and I just love steak. And waffles are the greatest food in the entire world."

Cardin forcefully admitted to himself that this girl had spunk. She was a tough bunny, legs that were just memorizing, an appetite that he liked, and waffles. Dear Monty, she already had him at the waffles. Honestly, he couldn't exactly remember why he had a problem with her, to begin with; he'd barely even said a single word to her at this point. Cardin was actually starting to see the way of Jaune's thinking, suddenly liking the idea of a new beginning, here, at Beacon Academy, away from his life back home.

Screw his old man's view on the Faunus; this girl was one in a million! Plus, he was kind of digging those ears of hers.

Cardin smirked and leaned closer to her. "Don't worry about it... uh?"

"Velvet, I'm Velvet Scarlatina."

His smirk turned into his first honest smile in what felt like an eternity. "And you can call me Cardin Winchester. So, what's a pretty girl like you doing sitting all alone? Should be a crime."

Jaune couldn't hold back his confusion when Cardin began talking to Velvet like it was breathing. He was even more impressed when the bunny Faunus fired back all his witty remarks with some just as bad, if not a bit tamer. Guess his new friend showed him. Oh well, back to eating this heavy stack of meat and chicken. At least Cardin relieved him of one before he left to flirt. Too bad it didn't stop him from staring painfully at the stack of meat perched on his plate. He wasn't even all that hungry.

Jaune would finish fast, or simply toss the food away, but he doubted Yang would appreciate not only the gesture but the idea of him abandoning her in the Mess Hall all alone. Blake and Weiss must've not been hungry. The Arc couldn't recall if either of the two had mentioned their plans when Yang dragged him here. He wasn't too overly concerned about them but left alone, and a mind liked to wander.

"Ready to eat?"

Looking up from his plate, Jaune met Yang's ravenous grin with a meek one. She plopped her butt down right next to him, shoving her plate next to his. The former didn't even wait for him to reply, attacking the morsel without mercy. It was like watching a car accident happen in slow-motion, except the guilty feeling of enjoying the crash didn't come around to spoil a person's fun. Yet, he remained silent for the first whole minute.

He still wasn't used to eating with friends. The Arc was still getting used to _having_ friends at all.

"Hey! Hurry up and eat! It's going to get cold, dummy."

Yup! This was definitely a feeling he could get used to.

...

When Weiss left their new room that following afternoon, she was undoubtedly sour about the whole ordeal. A little training was what she needed to cool off. How else was she going to burn off the steam growing in her after learning about their living accommodations? Seriously, what little room their actual room had. A girl could only hold so much anger in. Painstakingly fortunate, there were twenty-four-hour training rooms at Beacon Academy.

She'd figure out the whole mess after a good throttling on some innocent combat drones. Plus, the idea of fighting sounded wonderful. Her initiation wasn't more than find the Grimm, kill the Grimm, and go home. A simple mission, if there was one, but it had felt lackluster after the initial buzz of passing her initiation had worn off, almost like she hardly accomplished anything. So a little exercise to stretch the muscles couldn't hurt, keep the mind sharp and the body strong.

Reaching the door to the training area, it opened before she could grab the handle. Out stepped Yang, looking pleased with a small trail of sweat dripping down her forehead. She stopped before Weiss and did a little wave.

"Hey, roomie!"

"Yang?" Weiss asked. "What are you doing here?"

She grinned and pointed out to the end of the combat arena, past all the other people, where Jaune was at. "Oh? After dinner, Jaune wanted to get some practice in. I just showed him the way here and got a little practice in myself. Gotta burn all those calories!"

Weiss blinked, tilting her head. "My partner's here?"

"Yup!" Yang popped the P. "He's just messing around with the Ice Dust. You should go check it out, it's crazy. Well, I'm gonna go hit the showers. Catch ya, later."

With Myrtenaster gripped tightly in her hand, Weiss entered the combat zone after bidding Yang a small farewell, eyes scanning across the combatants battling against the combat drones. She found the fool in a separate arena, away from other students, with ice covering both the floor and parts of his outfit. When he spotted her, Jaune took the moment to take a breath and wipe off some ice sticking to his forehead. He then held his palm out and the Ice Dust shard came to life, with Jaune losing any and all attachments to the element.

He smiled, throwing the ice shard into the air before catching it. "Hey Weiss, looks like you found me."

Weiss was impressed to find Jaune studying his Dust strengths. Proved to her his dedication to Dust. "Training so soon? Don't you even want to relax after just completing initiation?"

"Now where's the fun in that?" She still looked at him funny. "I got secrets to workout with my Dust-Dust powers. They're all still new and, well, you know, it's Dust! There's just so much to test and discover. It's a whole new world to play around in. And I'm still new to using Dust in combat, I just used to study the darn thing a lot. This is a whole lot different."

"Dust-Dust?" _That_ was what she was still stuck on.

Crossing his hands, Jaune huffed. "Hey, don't look at me; you were the one who called them that. I'm just sticking to my strengths."

There was that small smile of hers. "And your strengths are using the names I gave you?"

"Anyways..." Jaune trailed, backtracking a little. "How was the room?"

She frowned and stomped her foot, losing her good mood instantly. "Terrible. Our accommodations are quite small. Blake and I were forced to change the living space up a bit. Don't be startled to find bunk beds when you first walk in."

Jaune grinned. "I'll practice my screams of joy."

Weiss pouted but said nothing more on the matter. Her eyes traveled over the melting ice on the floor and one combat drone still trying to dig its limbs out from beneath it. It really did look like meager practice. Her new partner did inform her of this being a recent addition to his already acquired arsenal of skills. So she couldn't be surprised at the recent development before her. He didn't really seem like the type to use Dust, just know about. That much was obvious with the random usage of Dust spewed across the arena. Although, that did not mean she couldn't offer her assistance to her partner and fellow Dust user, even if his title required a second Dust to the name.

Holding Myrtenaster tightly, Weiss held the weapon up, posed at Jaune. "So, you're practicing your Dust control... maybe I can help. Perhaps I can show you just a few pointers. Can't very well have my partner making a fool of himself."

" _Just a few pointers_?" Jaune echoed like a lost treasure. A rare sense of enigma crawled up and down his skin, and then it was gone just as fast. "Nah, I'm good. Just gotta practice my dance moves a bit. I am a bit rusty, but nothing a little warm-up can't fix."

This time it was her turn to echo. "Dance moves? You're dancing? Why aren't you using your sword?"

"Because of this." Jaune grabbed Crocea Mors off the floor, absorbed the ice shard, and flung his arm out. The action caused the Ice Dust to react in his palm, encasing the direction he flung his arm with a wall of ice, and the handle of his ancestor's blade and his hand together in a fusion of ice. He held up the inconvenience with a cold attitude. "See. Swinging my sword around is not going to exactly help me. Crocea Mors just gets in the way; it wasn't designed to use Dust. The Dust moves are based on the way I move my body. Don't you see, Weiss, dance is where it's at."

It was hard to take him seriously with such a cold expression but silly declaration. "You're a dolt, you know that?"

The ice holding his hand still shattered and Jaune purposely held Crocea Mors up to Weiss. "You'll live to regret those words."

A challenge, she did love a good challenge. "Bring it on, Ice King."

A puff of mist escaped Jaune's icy throat. His cold, dispassionate eyes held no warmth. Just standing a few feet from him felt like being trapped in a freezer. He was then lifting his hand up. It was partially covered in a thin sheet of ice, somehow moving without breaking or fracturing the ice entrapping his fingers. Unlike water, ice didn't flow and move as a path of least resistance. It was stubborn by nature, cold and unforgiving. Except his Dust-Dust powers easily bypassed any such restrictions for his person.

How lucky for him.

A quick stab of his family's sword into the ground was the last warning she was getting. "Fair warning, Weiss, ice is too unpredictable when I use my hands and feet. I'm still getting used to it. And I'm a great dancer. Seven sisters will do that you."

He'd already ran out of Water Dust. At some point, he must've accidentally used some because it was just gone when he got to the training room. So the Arc had been forced to try something different, which led to him practicing with ice. And he knew just as well as anyone else how terrifying Ice Dust could be to a person. It's not an element to tread lightly with.

Weiss never let Myrtenaster waver. She simply smirked, finding his announcement amusing. "I've never heard a guy so vocal about his dance skills. They usually keep that part of themselves hidden."

Jaune sighed a breath of cold air. "I wasn't planning to ever tell anyone about it, but I've got no choice now. That's just how my Dust works."

"By dancing?"

"It's all arm and legwork!" he defended, protecting his masculinity. "I just happen to be a good dancer. There's no shame in that." Weiss' weapon wavered a little, but that was because she was hiding a teasing smirk behind her palm. "Fine. I'll prove it to you. Bring it."

Even when he was so nonchalant about it, Weiss still felt the emotion brewing underneath the layer of ice. She felt captivated, inspired almost by his vocalization. "Bring it on, Charismatic Leader."

She held respect for the Dust expert. She also held a twinge of fear as ice shards headed directly for her.

Dodging with a roll, Weiss _clicked_ her weapon's revolver, switching to Fire Dust to combat Jaune's cold moves. At the other side of the battlefield, he fought the urge to simply absorb her Dust. That didn't seem too fair. Not only that, he couldn't exactly just absorb anything but the Ice Dust she was harboring, not while he was still running on a supercharged Ice Dust shard. It would take too much effort and time to release himself from the Ice Dust and then steal hers. By then he was more than a sitting duck, and while he was thinking about ducks, Jaune did just that, narrowly avoiding the whip of fire aimed for his cool head with a bent of both his legs.

Standing up, Jaune ran his fingers between his frosty hairs with a pleasant smirk. "That was a little too hot for comfort." He might not be the best sword-fighter, but he had more than enough heart to dance himself to victory.

Throwing a hand forward, Jaune had his palm open, a technique he learned within the first two minutes of practice, shooting out more ice shards at Weiss. They traveled fast, but Weiss proved to faster, dodging the first few before digging her foot forward to thrust her arm out and pierce the last ice shard with the tip of Myrtenaster, releasing a torrent of fire at the same time at a lackluster Jaune.

In the end, ice was still water, and Jaune had practice with the slippery element. Even if he was missing some key components on the way ice properly moved in battle, it wasn't like he had a chance to practice much, but he still had a refined idea on how ice should be used.

Call it instinct.

Whipping his arm forward, a wall of ice sprouted forward and blocked her incoming heat wave. Jaune then ripped the ice wall in two, whipping both his hands forward and out to break the ice, before unleashing both his palms forward to send a much larger chunk at Weiss, rather than small icicles. She narrowed eyes and dodged the large chunk, knowing she couldn't melt it on time and was only marginally surprised to notice a few ice shards heading right for her.

Switching Myrtenaster to Wind Dust, Weiss pierced her rapier forward, using the wind to not only push the ice away but her as well. Then the Heiress shot a huge gust of wind at Jaune, hoping to throw him out of bounds, but was shocked when he managed to create a barrier of ice behind himself by throwing his hands back. It held him in place, favoring the coldness of the wind blowing at it, but it was also weak in structure due to its master's inexperience in using it.

Holding Jaune in place, Weiss summoned her Glyphs to make a path toward him, acting as a gate to her target. Then she ran on them, getting an immense speed boost that sent her flying to her prone leader, switching to Lightning Dust to deliver a finishing blow. And she did manage to connect with Jaune, thrusting him back, destroying his barrier as she pushed him toward the edge of the ring, but her plan failed when they both suddenly stop in the charge.

His feet were encased in ice, alongside with the floor. They were held in place, preventing her from pushing him off the edge. Her Lightning Dust was still active, shocking Jaune in a layer of static discharge, but he hardly seemed to feel it. Now she barely noticed that he held Myrtenaster with a powerful grip of ice, hand completely covered in ice, alongside the part of the blade of her weapon he struggled to hold back.

Blowing a puff of mist, Jaune froze a tiny portion of Weiss's cheek, wincing a tiny bit from the static traveling all over his body. "Seriously, Weiss, you should know ice is a poor conductor of electricity. That's common Dust knowledge one-o'-one."

Weiss Schnee pouted.

Cut her some slack. It wasn't as if she fought a walking Dust shard every day. To be perfectly honest, she had been hoping the electrical current would stun him just long enough for her to push him out the ring. She hadn't anticipated that he was an actual walking Ice Dust shard. Weiss hadn't known how far his Semblance actually went.

"This isn't over."

Weapon trapped between his icy fingers, Jaune slightly narrowed his eyes, ignoring the warning. "Hn? I wonder." He pushed on that tug in his soul, right where his hand was at, immediately feeling the ice reacting and freezing her weapon. "I guess it does work."

Eye wide, Weiss tried to break free; hoping to get Myrtenaster away before her partner completely froze the weapon and all its features. "Let go!"

"Hold on, just let me beat you first."

Weiss threw a fist for Jaune's face, immediately feeling a cold sensation spread across her digits when she made contact. A flinch happened, but a stagger never came. The freezing of her weapon continued until it reached her hand gripping the hilt, coming to a sudden halt at the edge of her skin. The functions have all been frozen solid, useless to her and harmless to her opponent. Jaune knew this. She knew this. There was nothing she could do about it and he was taking full advantage of that, pressing her back with her weapon frozen between his fingers. Yet, he still didn't allow the coldness to creep up to her sensitive skin.

She glared at him, wondering why he suddenly stopped. "What are you doing?"

His face remained impassive. "I think I've won."

Her glare grew stronger. "No, you haven't. I still had a good amount of Aura, and we're still in the ring. This fight isn't over yet."

Now, he showed some emotion, showing unrivaled skepticism. "Do you really want me to freeze you and turn you into a Weiss-sickle because I still can?" To prove a point, the ice began freezing the hand gripping Myrtenaster. It traveled up her hand and then forearm, ending right at her shoulder. "Give up now? You know what happens if your body stays frozen for too long."

Of course, she did, and Weiss was amazed. When Jaune was using Ice Dust as his outlet, he was a cold and clear-thinking person. She couldn't wait to see how he acted with the other Dust properties. He said lightning made him talk fast; she was willing to take his word, but she wasn't willing to lose or give up just yet. Weiss Schnee would not lose this match.

Using her free hand, Weiss summoned a Glyph to appear underneath their feet. "Give up? In your dreams, Ice King." Jaune didn't get much time to react, suddenly thrown off his feet, alongside Weiss, by a force from her the Glyph beneath his frozen feet. "I don't lose."

She was thrown up since her partner froze her weapon and her arm into place, dragging her along for the ride. Jaune barely did more than turn around as they came crashing outside the circle—the both of them. Upon their fall, the ice holding her weapon had fractured and broken off from the revolver a little, allowing her to free her hand with the use of the Fire Dust in Myrtenaster's chamber, and she stood up a minute later.

Jaune got up last, cracking his neck into place with a cool attitude. "That was cold, Weiss."

The Heiress smirked.

Weiss Schnee preferred not to lose, but she was more than willing to tie.

* * *

 **Author Notes:** Don't worry, Jaune's not going to say Dust-Dust whenever he does stuff, I just wanted to be able to say that from time to time in the story as a joke and reference to **One Piece**. Writing emotions for each form of Dust is going to be a nightmare, but I'm willing to do it if you're willing to read.

 **PRRN – Prune -** Purple

 **ABYS – Abyss -** Abyss White


	6. Linen

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing of RWBY.

* * *

 **Linen**

 **By: Imyoshi**

Bunk beds were overrated.

Jaune had a misplaced frown as he laid down on his new bed, Ice Dust still controlling his emotions and hair. Above him, Weiss sat on the edge of her bed, combing her hair in precise and rhythmic movements. He had his arms rested behind his head. Every creak that came from her bed tickled his nerves in a negative way. Didn't help that she _hummed_ little numbers to know the precise number of times she'd brushed her hair, caring nothing for how her bed spent its moments suspended by a faulty rope with a constant gravity working against it.

Suffice to say, he was a tad scared that her bed was going to topple all over him while he was off in dreamland, mixing violent chemicals of Dust with the great Albert Duststein. Was it too much to ask for peace of mind while he slept?

After she reached a one-hundred, he was forced to ask after the thirty creak. "How come you get to sleep on the top bunk? What if it falls on me while you're sleeping?"

She had an answer for everything. "Well, as a lady, it's only right that you act courtliness and take the more dangerous of the options presented. You wouldn't want your partner to get hurt, would you?"

"You mean the one that cheats in her fights?"

Weiss _humphed_ , arms crossed firmly. Her feet dangled off the top bunk bed in a show of victory. "She does not cheat. She simply decided to take you down with herself. That's a logical and last-minute tactic." She smirked. "Besides, I won. I get to choose."

"You didn't win. We tied."

Weiss peeked over the edge of her bed, hair dangling and glare ever-present. "Whatever happened to ladies first or Mr. At Your Service? As a leader, you should care more about your teammates and show a proper example of etiquette, like being a gentleman. That's what I would've done."

Jaune blew a breath of cold air at her. "Then you be leader! I'll gladly give it to you!"

She mockingly _gasped_ , her smirk positively evil. "And lose my top bunk? In your dreams! A lady needs her beauty rest and I can't have that with the looming thought of being crushed. Besides, I trust in Headmaster's Ozpin decision and have no qualms whatsoever."

In other words, she wasn't going to sucker herself into the leadership position. She was holding him over a barrel full of sludge. "You're a cold person, Weiss."

"Humph, says the Ice King!"

Weiss escaped, getting just out of his view, except her feet still dangled, but now she was fluttering them up and down in a faster motion. If she was trying to poke at his icy personality, she was doing a perfect job.

Sighing, Jaune pouted, releasing the Ice Dust from his body. A drain of Aura later, it materialized into his palm, biting his newly sensitive skin with its frosty texture. Judging off the nauseating glow, the power was weakened, relatively close to a supercharged shard of Ice Dust, but edging more toward an average Ice Dust. But that was to be expected after their little sparring session, and thinking about their little fight was making his blood race and heart beat faster.

The power to control and create Dust.

He was still so caught-off-guard by it all. Barely two days have passed at this darn school and his life had already changed for the better. Well, _better_ might be jumping the shark, it was still too early to tell if his Dust powers would turn out to be a blessing or curse, but his Dust mind settled more toward blessing. Why wouldn't it be? What negative consequence could there possibly be?

It was Dust!

Still, Dust powers or not, it did nothing to stop Weiss from taking the top bunk. And the worst part about it, he couldn't complain too much. Dumb dad always did say that a man should be courtesy to a lady. Now he could see why the formality was dying out. How was a guy supposed to act all perfect and junk and still have to sleep with one eye open?

That was just plain not fair.

Grumbling, Jaune flipped to his side to see Yang and Blake longing at their corner. Blake was on the top bunk, but at least Yang was secured; books didn't bend easily to gravity, not like feeble rope. She had a book wedged between her fingers, completely enthralled by the words written there, only breaking the silence with a simple page turn. Meanwhile, Yang was button mashing like crazy on some game she owned on her scroll, eyes burning red with fury as she laid on her stomach, legs propped up.

He wanted to ask about that but then decided not to. Fury was the color red. Yang's eyes were red. In turn, Yang was Fury incarnated and it was best to leave her to her devices. Besides, he had a good feel for her, not so much Blake, but time would change that. Now, his partner, on the other hand, was one deceitful individual, taking them both out of the fight instead of allowing him to win.

What a cold way to go down.

Playing with the Ice Dust in his hand, he sighed silently, hating how normal it was. Perhaps, during his first day of class, he could charge some of his Dust up and maybe swipe a few? There had to be a ton of leftover Dust after each experiment. Too bad he was going to be so bored in Dust class. What could they teach him that he didn't already know? Heck! Weiss, too!

They were both going to be bored.

Not to say he was expecting her to know everything about Dust, but he was certain that her knowledge outplayed the general consensus of people attending Beacon. Being a Dust Heiress must've allowed for some advanced teachings. Passion must have played some part in her learning process, too. Weiss appeared enough interested in Dust for nothing less. By all accounts, the Schnee Company Heiress should have a natural grasp of the concepts of Dust.

In a way, Jaune Arc couldn't ask for a better partner.

Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his remaining Dust, adding ice into the mix. With gravity, smoke, wind, and ice as his current weapons of choice, he was limited. His Dust-Dust powers were going to need more supplies if he planned to sustain constant Dust usage, but how could he? Dust prices have skyrocketed and he wasn't too eager to play _find the Dust shard in Emerald Forest_. That'd be counterproductive if he was forced to use the Dust to fight off the Grimm.

Dropping the problem, for now, he pocketed them away, figuring he needed a better way to holsters all his Dust. Between him and the floorboards, his pockets were starting to get torn up by the constant elements bombarding them. Being soaked, dry, windy, and etc. have really taken their toll on his jeans, and he hated reaching down into his pocket with the fear of accidentally hurting himself.

However, that was a problem for tomorrow. Today's plan was to sleep. It had been a draining few days and he wanted nothing more than to get some shuteye. Not even Yang's ambitious playing or Blake's slow turning paging, or even his partner's counting was going to keep him from dreamland.

He was out within minutes.

...

Jaune Arc learned one crucial thing about girls when he grew up in a house full of eight.

They all snored, all of them. Each one of his teammates did as well, but he knew to bring it up would be bad for his health and useless all the same. Based on what his seven sisters insisted, women _did not snore_ , and the males of the Arc household just learned to not say anything when it came to sleeping arrangements. They learned to simply power through it, but that wasn't what woke Jaune up first before his teammates, nor was it the early morning sun shining through the undisclosed curtains.

It was the gut-wrenching feeling that'd trapped his stomach and his entire body in a snake-like vice grip.

Upon waking up, he sat up almost immediately, bringing his arms close to his stomach, feeling horrible as if someone sucker punched him in the gut. It felt like his stomach was on fire. Jaune couldn't even scream out in pain, that was just how gruesome it felt. It almost seemed like he was drowning in pain and didn't have the power to do anything about it.

Maybe he was coming down with something?

Jaune winced, forcing himself out of bed. He just had to be sick. At least the moment he managed to get out of bed, his stomach felt slightly better, enough to at least bite back the pain, but it was a constant reminder, haunting him like the plague.

Breathing in and out in a slow pace, he sighed, wondering why his Aura wasn't alleviating the pain as he had hoped, but such mysteries were to remain as such. His teammates were stirring in their slumber, waking to his deep breathing and constant moving, and he glared.

"Don't worry them. Just visit the hospital wing after class." He hated the idea of being a burden and didn't want to worry them during their first day of classes. Might just be a bad case of some intense stomach flu or something? He'd manage. "I should probably get dressed before them. I don't think Yang would mind too much, but Weiss and Blake might not appreciate me changing in front of them."

Determined, he plucked his school uniform from out the drawers and trudged over to the bathroom, beating all the girls to the shower, a personal accomplishment if someone asked him. He looked at his reflection in the mirror, noting his more than usual pale skin while his insides continued to rumble and churn.

"Definitely the flu."

His shower didn't take too long, a slave to habit, a family as large as his required speedy showers and quick mornings, just another peril of being an Arc. It did quell the uneasiness in his body, for however long that'd last, but there was still this underline gurgle bubbling deep. Considering he'd been waking up to this feeling the past few days, he knew it'd return sooner or later. He just had to visit the hospital wing after class.

Walking out the bathroom with his uniform on, he barely made it two steps before he was tackled away from the door by a running Yang, zooming past him like a train. When the stars stopped spinning, he found Weiss _huffing_ with Blake frowning at the bathroom door, both holding items for bathroom activities.

"Darn it!" Weiss grumbled with her toothbrush in hand. "I didn't expect her to be so fast!"

Blake said nothing; she was just holding a rubber tuna that wore a miniature black suit, minus the pants, and a top hat with a moniker. She also held a bottle of tear-free shampoo, extra-strength edition. Both their hairs were a mess, victims to the unbeatable bedhead. His partner's hair was a little more contained, thanks to all the pre-night brushing, but it was still pretty unkempt, probably because she tossed and turned while she slept. Only Jaune's mane looked presentable, what with the short-hair and the shower and all.

Blake then made her move, amber eyes serious. They were directed at his partner. "I call next."

Weiss crossed her arms in defiance. "You'll do no such thing! I was the second one awake!"

"And you're the last one in line." Blake poked at, using her rubber tuna to emphasize the poke. It _squeaked_ in retaliation. "Even Mr. Squeakers agrees and he's never wrong."

Weiss frowned at the rubber tuna, wanting to slap it away from Blake's hand. "Mr. Squeakers doesn't know squat!"

"You take that back."

He blinked, picking himself off the floor. Now the girls were fighting for bathroom privileges. Yup! Definitely felt like home. It was like he never left. Not to say he missed his family, yet, but waking up without his little sisters smothering him was kind of empty.

Dusting himself off, he waved to the arguing girls, not even sure if they could see him walking toward the door. "Good luck with that. I'm going to get some breakfast." Maybe food would erase the sickness? "Don't be late to class."

They were too busy fighting over the bathroom to hear him walk out.

...

Jaune walked away from the breakfast table with a tray of mini breakfast sandwiches. His eyes roamed the Mess Hall, eventually landing on his buddy Ren, who was picking slowly at what looked to be a salad. Without pausing, he walked over and sat down, enjoying the silence for all it was worth, but that only lasted so long.

"Hey, Ren!" Jaune greeted, taking Ren's small hum as acknowledgment. It was too quiet. "So? Where's Nora? Aren't you two normally tied to the hip?"

Ren shrugged, enjoying the relative normalcy. "Last time I checked, she's still sleeping."

He paused into his first bite, confused. "Shouldn't you, I don't know, be trying to wake her up then?"

"Ruby told me not to worry about it, something along the lines of girl bonding and Pyrrha didn't seem to mind too much. Then again, our leader seemed a little distant this morning." Ren answered nonchalantly. He eyed Jaune with calmness. "So, I'm down here, getting an early start on the day. And I'm guessing you're doing the same?"

He was amazed at Ren's ability to break down a situation. "Yeah, but my team's not really bonding as more like fighting for who gets to go into the bathroom next. That and I don't feel so good." Jaune grabbed his stomach, haunted by that ravenous hunger within him. "I think I might be coming down with something. My chest burns and my stomach's killing me."

Ren offered him some of his leafy drink. "Here, it's herbal tea. I'll soothe your upset stomach. I can't do anything for the rest of you, but this should make the day more bearable."

Jaune wisely pushed the drink away. "Don't worry, I'm heading to the nurse's office after classes are over today, but don't tell my team. I don't want them to worry over me. Can't let them think I'm out of commission on the first day."

Unfortunately, the Lie threw a whole wrench into his plans. "They'll want to know, you know that."

Jaune threw his head back, already laced with guilt. "What are you, my therapist?"

"Don't be silly." Ren said nonchalantly, taking a sip of his drink. "You couldn't afford it."

Jaune bit his tongue, retort dying. Sadly, if his friend Ren was a therapist, then he couldn't really afford it with having to battle increasing Dust prices. Darn, the scrutiny. Darn the robberies. Damn it all.

Luckily for him, he saw his friend Cardin walking over with a tray full of waffles in hand. He sat down next to Ren and slammed his tray down, chewing upon his first waffle before glaring over to Jaune and then Ren. If the Arc was being serious, he was glad for the distraction. Plus, the added masculinity was an added benefit he didn't know he needed until now.

"Oh? Ren! This is my newest buddy—!"

"Cardin. I go by Cardin." The third male offered a hand out of politeness, shaking the silent one with surprising gentleness for a man his stature. "Damn! I love these waffles. Oh! Uh, what's up?"

Ren blinked, shrugging away. He dipped a fork into his salad. "Nothing much, I'm Ren by the way. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Yeah, yeah!" he waved his fork around, stopping all that nonsense right then and there. "Cut the pleasantries. No need for any of that. I'm Cardin. You're Ren. That's Jaune. And this is breakfast. Let's focus on the breakfast part." Ren was more than happy to obliged, hungry for veggies. "So, Jaune, where's your team at? I don't see them anywhere?"

"Bathroom troubles."

Cardin sneered. "Typical. At least your team's not full of half-brained morons. Those idiots are still sleeping." He peered over at Ren, noticing his absent team. "What about you? What's your excuse?"

Ren pointed his tomato covered fork at Jaune. "Look to previous answer."

The guy hummed, biting into his waffle. Jaune waved his sandwich at Cardin, curious. "So? How'd it go with that girl yesterday, the bunny Faunus?"

Cardin actually grinned a true, genuine smile. "I'm having dinner with her later. Her name's Velvet and she's feisty! Not to mention she's more of a carnivore than me! What more can I ask for?"

Ren let the tomato dangle on his fork, oddly fascinated. "I find that odd. Shouldn't a bunny Faunus be more interested in vegetables? I'm sorry if I'm being blunt here, but what I'm eating is called _rabbit food_."

Cardin grinned, chewing his waffles in excitement. "I know, right? What a woman!"

Laughing a little at Cardin's amusement, Jaune settled into chewing his breakfast sandwich, feeling the delicious taste of food temporarily fading the pain away. Maybe, just maybe, he could get through classes today with no trouble. Then he could make a stop at the nurse's office after.

"So?" Jaune asked, trailing the question. "Who knows what the first class of the day is?"

...

Professor Port was an interesting professor, to say the least.

For his morning class, it could've been worse; it could've been combat class. Only problem, five minutes into the lecture made it impossible to follow along. When Jaune heard about a Grimm Studies class, he expected something, oh, he didn't know, less boring. And by less boring, he meant not having to listen to tales of grander from his professor's youthful days.

Jaune knew the man meant well, but he couldn't find it in him to be even mildly interested. Not to mention his remaining team members arrived late to class, apparently having gotten sidetracked with whatever it was they decided to argue about, basking Team ABYS in a not so perfect light on their first day.

At least his team wasn't the only one who came in late. Team PRRN's track record matched their own.

Ten minutes into class, he sighed and leaned down on his desk, counting the minutes to History. His partner was next to him, diligently writing notes on the man's past, brows furrowed in absolute concentration. How she managed to keep an attention span longer than a minute remained a mystery to him, but he wasn't jealous.

He was a thinker.

Jaune might not be paying any attention to Professor Port's lesson whatsoever, but he was breaking down the Dust process of his Dust-Dust powers in his mind. Well, he was trying anyway. Most of it made no sense to him, throwing everything he thought he knew about Dust out the window. Like the crystallization process, crystal growth and even the recrystallization process of Dust shards. It all mattered to understanding how normal Dust shards formed.

Basically, Dust crystals were infinite. Remnant's geological processes were always making more in the Remnant's crust and mantle. The process just required time and pressure, the foundation of rock formation, next to heat and pressure. The only issue he was having with all this was the how and why. He didn't understand where he was getting the heat needed to restructure and create Dust shards from scratch or the pressure and cooling.

Dust crystallization required an active heat source and then a cooling source, hot and cold essentially, not to mention a pressure to form the chemical bonds. All crystal structures for Dust varied depending on the underlining nature of the Dust forming; thus atom formation was more defined to randomization. Still, Dust needed heat, magma! Then it needed to cool down and be pressurized with high gravity to form Dust shards.

How he was able to make Dust—granted, he needed Dust in order to accomplish said task—with just his Aura was beyond him. His Dust logic just simply couldn't comprehend it. The science wasn't there to come to a conclusion. Pseudoscience was more like it.

 _Crack_!

Stopping at the sound of his pencil's lead breaking, he just now realized he drew the Dust-Dust Fruit—his Little Buddy—into his notebook with such concentration he didn't know he even possessed. The doodle reminded him of the years he spent growing the tiny seed, fighting against the odds and the outcome of common sense outlined for him during day one. He remembered it all too well.

Smiling, Jaune finished the drawing, adding the missing edges into his sketch with care. Maybe, possibly, he was thinking about this all too hard? Science had no place here. Jaune Arc might just have to swallow his pride and throw this one into his failure bin. Science couldn't explain everything. Some things were better left to the imagination than the thinking world.

Seriously! The only way this would make any sense was if Aura had more properties than what current Aura scientists knew. Perhaps if Aura had the property of heat and temperature, and some other foreign power, which no one knew about, contained the power of gravity and coldness to compensate for Aura's heat, then the process of creating metals and Dust shards could be feasible.

He had to hold back a laugh.

"Like that could ever happen."

...

Like Grimm Studies, Jaune found History to be a nope on his preferred class list. Not to say Professor Oobleck talked about grand adventures in his youth, the absinthe haired man just simply talked too fast. Taking notes in this class was already proving to be an endless nightmare. Jaune failed to get one complete sentence down before the speedster was rambling off about another topic in history, coffee firmly secured in his hand that was impervious to spillage.

He loathed it too. Jaune liked history. So did Blake, apparently. She was more involved that Weiss was, following the professor's speedy words and movements with cat-like wit. As a leader, Jaune must know all the little quirks of his teammates. Yang was kind of an open book. Weiss was still a riddle, but he had gotten a good grasp of her upbringing from Dust reports and media coverage, but those only show so much of a person's true emotions. If he'd learned anything from their time spent together, added with her dirty tactics in fighting, a person's personality was different from their outward appearance.

In the end, it was Blake that was the enigma.

Jaune knew little to nothing about his charcoaled-headed teammate. Outside of her name, being a girl and Yang's partner, she was wrapped in total mystery. However, it wasn't all sticks and stones with her. Blake was a complex problem with an overly simple solution.

Ask.

The Arc just needed to get to know Blake. Little things like asking questions and spending time together should cement a friendship. True, they might not click right off the bat like Yang and him. Heck! Weiss and he only mutually got off the right foot thanks to their involvement in Dust. Only Monty knew what that interaction would've been if Dust hadn't acted as a tethered for them to latch onto. Being partners also helped.

Small miracles.

Focusing on the small task at hand, and not the note taking one, Jaune planned to get to know Blake during their lunch period. As a matter of fact, they should all get to know each other better. Call it a team bonding exercise. Call it whatever. Point was attendance was mandatory. The idea of lunch sounded too good to pass up, mostly because he was still hungry from breakfast, and because those pains have returned with an armada to back them up.

Jaune almost felt as bad as the moment he had woken up. He had to fight tooth and nail to leaving to the medical wing right then and there.

Instead, he sighed and leaned back in his chair. "Just a few more periods. Just a few more."

"What was that, Dust boy?"

He paused, blinking in realization. He forgot Yang chose to sit next to him, probably to tease him. Just as bad, he forgot that if anyone wasn't going to take notes alongside him, it was her. So, of course, she had heard him mumble. Now she was staring at him, awaiting an answer to her question that Jaune just knew she would pester to the ends of time, and maybe even longer than that.

"I don't know what you're talking about." His sisters always did say he was a terrible liar. He'd just never connected the dots until now. "It's nothing. Nothing at all!"

Yang grinned, playing the predator in their little game. "Now I know it's something. You make the same face Ruby does whenever she's trying to hide a secret. C'mon! Tell me."

"I said no."

She leaned forward, brushing her shoulder with his, purposely showing teeth in a wide smirk. "You know I'm going to find out, anyways. You might as well spill now. I promise to keep the blackmailing to a minimum."

He fought back with his own push, throwing in his own pained smirk. "I don't think—!"

"Miss Xiao Long! Mr. Arc!" Both the blonds separated in time for Doctor Oobleck to fix his glasses into place. He'd that disapproving frown only a professor was capable of doing. "Do you have something you wish to add to the discussion?"

They both sunk into their chairs, dawdling in unison. "No..."

Oobleck glared, zooming back to his chalkboard of history. "Then I highly suggest you two to pay attention! Don't think I won't hand out Saturday detention on the first day. I'm more than happy to. Now!" he yelled, writing down something in haste. "The Age of Iron was very..."

Yang glared the moment Oobleck's back was turned, kicking Jaune under the table. "This isn't over."

He was too busy rubbing his shin in pain to fight back.

"Now!" Oobleck demanded, scanning his eyes closely across the classroom. "Can someone tell me what the led to the destruction of Iron City?"

Blake raised her hand, answer ready. "They had too many people."

Her professor grinned, index finger up. "Precisely! Remember class, all the power in the world comes with a price. It's a burden. It demands sacrifice. The people of Iron City fell to sickness and starvation because of overpopulation. And a once powerful capital soon became ruins."

Too much power could be a bad thing? Jaune actually wrote that note down, after rubbing his leg some more, keenly interested in the message behind the city's demise.

...

Lunch went as well as the noodle expected.

Not two steps into the Mess Hall and Yang was already trapping him in a one-arm lock, wrestling him to a table with Blake and Weiss already occupying it. He would try to break away, for food and all, but she had him pretty well locked in with a plate of food already set for him, refusing to let go. What a surprise! It was another plate of meats and calorie packing foods, just what a noodle like him needed.

After a few minutes of useless struggling, he gave up, accepting the hand he'd been dealt. Without Dust to give him the strength he needed—and the sickness was starting to hurt his insides—Jaune allowed the inhumane treatment to continue, if only for a short while. So, he ate what Yang prepared for him, forcing down food through his throat while fighting back her hold.

A guy had to have his pride eventually.

Poking the food with his fork, he sighed, a little peeved about his current predicament. He gave Yang his best sour smile. "As much as I enjoy being choked to death, I think I'll pass. Now, how about letting me go now?"

"I'll let you go..." Yang licked, eating through the steak like an animal. She had that sugary-sweet smile that was meant to rot. "After you tell me your secret."

Time for the big guns! She forced him to do this. "Your leader orders you to release him."

"Nope!"

Whelp! That failed. Now what? Maybe he'd call for backup from his fellow teammates?

Turning his head, he called for help. "Blake? Weiss? A little help here?"

He was met with a silent resistance, meanwhile, Yang chewed her food thoroughly, savoring the taste while both Weiss and Blake did nothing to help him. Blake, he sort of understood. She looked like the type of person to stay out of people's business, but he expected Weiss to lend some sort of hand, at least a verbal assistance if anything. Partners were supposed to have each other's back, or so he thought.

When his partner was halfway finished with her meal, she quietly wiped her mouth with a napkin before exploding in a fit of rage at the ill-prepared Arc. "How could you allow us to be late this morning? Do you have any idea how embarrassing that was?"

Surprised, Jaune looked to Blake for some verbal backup, but she remained quiet, quietly enjoying her fish soup with piercing eyes. He then thought about how Yang was basically holding him hostage with Weiss grilling him for information, while Blake acted like the strong-silent type. And everything clicked into place!

Ah! So it was mutiny!

Not even a full day as leader and they've already conspired behind his back.

Whelp. At least now Jaune knew why Weiss wasn't lending him a helping hand. Nevertheless! He wasn't going to become the bad guy in their little game. He was a Dust expert! Not their babysitter! That meant he'd been in more dangerous situations that he could count, volatile Dust concoctions and all.

"Me?" Jaune scoffed, smirking like a villain. "You're the ones who were late. Ren and I made it to class right on time. Don't blame your tardiness on me. I expected better out of all three you. Fighting over the bathroom, for shame! For shame!"

To really sell his point, Jaune stabbed his food and chewed it victoriously, against the awkward the position of being trapped in Yang's hold. A few seconds after swallowing, his easy smile began to waver and he coughed a bit into his mouth, acting very uncool. Things got worse when he burped out a breath of noxious gas.

"Hey!" Yang mumbled with a mouth full of food. "What are you doing?"

He groaned suddenly, appearing lightheaded. "Ah! I think something was wrong with that last piece of meat. I-I think I'm going to t-throw up."

The second Yang foolishly let him go, Jaune ran off, gone faster than Ruby's Semblance. In his place were three confused teammates, each one sporting a different emotion. Between the three, only Blake was impressed at his tactical retreat, Yang and Weiss were quite the opposite, annoyed that their leader got away.

Weiss huffed, arms together. "Darn it, Yang! You let him go!"

Yang was not going down without a fight. "How was I supposed to know Dust Boy was faking? It looked real! I was trying to protect myself from vomit. You can't blame me for that!"

The Schnee knew the brawler was right. Vomit was a no-go for her as well. She would've done the same thing. Still, she was mad. "I was going to lecture him the importance of communication that a leader must possess. I would've done things differently this morning if I was the leader."

Blake offered input. "You know he offered you the leadership position."

"What happened to it being a sucker's job?"

"Just saying."

...

Jaune did the smart thing after escaping his team's clutches; he hid in their room, the last place anyone expected to find him. There, he could read comics and not worry about jealous teammates. He even decided to play around with some Smoke Dust, oddly interested in its properties, not to mention his sickness had appeared to vanish. So there was that.

He wouldn't admit the food helped. That would mean Yang was right. Jaune didn't want Yang to be right. It felt wrong to say, wrong to even think. So he flushed out of his memory and settled on playing with the Smoke Dust, amazed by its elusive properties, but saddened by its construction. Unlike the other Dust he'd found and collected, Smoke Dust required two different base Dust components to make, factoring the problem of making more an overall greater challenge. It wasn't a naturally occurring element.

Such an elusive feature.

That meant practicing and discovery was limited to a small window of time. Not a win-win experiment in his mind, but creating new Dust out of existing Dust required sacrifice. Even if he loved the way a trail of smoke constantly left his digits, the amount of Smoke Dust practice in the distant future was severely limited. And since Smoke Dust wasn't natural, he wasn't going to be finding bits and pieces on the floor or in random rocks.

A shame, but his hands were figuratively tied.

Remembering the first time he used Smoke Dust, Jaune threw a hand forward and the Dust reacted, extending his limb out in a trail of tangible smoke. The distance aspect and how it worked entirely was still a mystery to him, Jaune just knew the amount of Smoke Dust contained within his body controlled the output of distance. The only problem, he had zero ideas with how to measure quantity except when it came to glowing. And if he was being honest, he wasn't sure if the glowing aspect represented quantity or quality. Just another variable he'd to take account of.

Such a troublesome problem.

Playing with his extended limb, his fun lasted only so long before Weiss found him in a few minutes later, walking into a literal cloud of smoke. Of course, she had to walk in the moment he arched his hand out, creating a wall of smoke that made it impossible to see. Not to mention she was coughing up a storm, waving away the smoke in a hasty fashion.

Funny enough, he wasn't affected by all the gas, but that was to be expected. If fire couldn't burn him when he was running on Fire Dust, then common sense speculated breathing in smoke should have no effect on his lungs.

"What's with all this smoke? Is there a fire in here?"

Jaune played it off cool, lying perfectly still on the bed as Weiss rummaged around the room, dusting away his precious power. Besides, he had run out of steam. That last blast of smoke had been the remaining embers of Dust before it ran dry. When she finally found, her glare could burn through stone. Jaune ignored it so he could wave all cheerfully at her.

"Hiya, Weiss? Whatcha up to?"

Weiss had no time for fun and games. "Are you smoking in here?"

The Arc pretended to take offense. "What? No! I was playing around with some Dust and this all happened. Smoking's a bad habit, Weiss. How could you think such a thing? I'm shocked."

Her glare intensified and she smacked Yang's pillow upon his dumb grin. "I'm still mad at you."

Jaune kept the pillow over his face, speaking through the mountain of ruffling feathers. "You should've taken a shower earlier. Then you would've been on time."

She grabbed and swiped the pillow away, leaving behind a few feathers to fall on his face. One landed right on his nose. "Easy for you to say, you took the first shower! Yang took forever and Blake's impatient! I think she might've even hissed at me."

He blew the feather off his nose. "What can I say? Early bird gets the worm."

 _Smack_!

And the pillow was over his face again. Typical.

Minutes ticked on by and he was forced to think that Weiss was ignoring him. Impossible! But it must be true. The only noise he'd heard in the room was the opening of a window, to get the remaining smoke out he presumed, and the scribbling of what sounded to be a pen. He hoped to be wrong.

Prying soon won over and Jaune removed the pillow, finding Weiss hunched over their desk, furiously, but diligently writing in a perfect manner. A perfected art at his viewing pleasure, although, the image was broken with the way she had her tongue out in intense concentration. Trained or not, there was no such thing as perfection. Tongue-out must be a bad habit of hers.

There was no use denying it. He wanted to know what she was writing. Anything that could make Weiss Schnee bite her tongue like that must be juicy, and it couldn't be class notes, he was sure she had more than enough from Professor Port and Doctor Oobleck. As far he knew, no homework was given, so he could scratch that off the list.

Screw it! He was just going to ask. "What are you doing?"

Weiss frowned a bit, erasing something she wrote in haste before resuming her writings. "I'm writing letters to my sister."

"Winter Schnee?"

Weiss paused, barely keeping the led from breaking. She finally looked away from the paper, fixing the innocent man with a confused glare of her own. "I keep forgetting that you're well-informed about my family. Not many people actually know about my older sister. They either gloss over her or simply have no knowledge about her."

Jaune grinned, arms crossed behind his head. "Knowing all things Dust includes knowing about your family. Comes with being amazing at Dust. I just have no idea what any of you look like. You took me by surprise the first time I met you."

She hummed. "I can say the same the thing about you. For a Dust expert, you certainly don't look the part. Most experts have a holster to carry Dust around, and very few are fighters, most prefer labs than battlefields. But I guess that's what makes you different from all the rest. Not to mention your control over Dust does kind of set the bar a lot higher. People would expect more from you."

This time Jaune sighed. "I guess it comes with being me."

She smirked lightly. "Try not to let your ego cloud your judgment."

He pouted but said nothing more. Weiss took that as an incentive to continue her letter, hoping to file away the previous day's adventure before Dust Workshop. However, small mercies only lasted so long. Before the Heiress knew it, her annoying partner was hovering over her shoulder, very interested in what she was writing.

"So?" Jaune trailed, not exactly sure where to jump off from. " _Letters to Winter_?"

"Yes? Why? Is there a problem with that, Charismatic Leader?"

How was he supposed to back down from the challenge? "I'm not sure. I'm still stuck on the writing letters part. You know we have scrolls, right? Snail mail is obsolete. It has been for at least a few decades."

She threw her head back and glared up at his peering down eyes. "My sister's too busy to be dealing with scroll messages. This way is more convenient for both of us."

"Fine, fine, whatever you say." Jaune still found it odd. He glanced over to the cloak, undeterred that class started soon. "You know class starts in like five minutes, right?"

Weiss jumped from her chair, glaring at the clock. "What?!"

"I said class starts in—!"

"I know what you said!" She quickly folded the letter and placed it into her bag before grabbing him by the shoulder. "C'mon! I will not allow us to be late for Dust Workshop!"

This time he was just clueless. "Why not? What can they possibly teach us that we don't already know?"

...

Weiss Schnee hated to admit it, but her partner was most certainly right. The assignment they set for the duo was child's play for them. To think, Professor Peach expected them to take two days to finish it. Two days! Clearly, the woman didn't have a proper grasp on the concept of time. The Dust partners had it done in no time, practically having two whole days of freedom. That was not to say the rest of the class fared as well as they had, they were actually struggling with the assignment. Struggling? With a simple Dust experiment. Go figure.

Five minutes into their freedom and the duo were already bored.

There was nothing this Dust Workshop could offer to either of them. Not in the terms of knowledge at least, but perhaps as a study for their pursuits. What else was there for them?

Digging into her bag, Weiss pulled out a few vials of her own Dust, placing them on the table in something akin to eagerness. She turned to her partner, guilty for being giddy, hoping for some of that special Dust of his. What she found was her partner playing with a lone shard of Fire Dust—leftover from the assignment—appearing uninterested in all the Dust around him. Jaune even had his hood pulled over his eyes with his vision barely concealed at the edge of the cloth.

She frowned, wondering why her partner wasn't enjoying himself in a class of Dust. She then got an irking. Maybe he was probably beyond bored. Yeah, that had to be it. Jaune was just bored. He knew more about Dust than even she did. It had to be dull to be tasked with such simple assignments. He was the person who scored a perfect on his Dust exams. A score like that was unheard of.

Those exams normally had a very low average.

Maybe some Dust experiments would cheer him up? They did have extra Dust from the assignment, a fair amount, actually. Considering the professor expected everyone to mess up and reattempt the assignment, Weiss could count this as a blessing instead. A little experimenting with Dust should lift his spirits.

Unbeknownst to Weiss, Jaune wasn't bored, his eyes hurt. The hood was being used to shield away all the glows surrounding him. Each of the glows varied in brightness and he still wasn't used to being around so much Dust. Time was needed to better adjust his eyes, or a pair of shades should fix the problem. Either way, his hoodie was turning into a Montysend. The Arc just hoped his eyes would adjust over time.

His thoughts were then robbed from him—like the Fire Dust in hand—by Weiss cutting in. She played with the Fire Dust for a moment, attached to it just as much as he was, before pushing a pile of Fire Dust into his corner of the table. It was all leftover from the experiment. A decent size pile. It actually made him feel insulted. How clueless were people to need this much Dust for such a simple experiment?

Flicking his sight over to her, he asked. "What do you want me to do with all this?"

She frowned. "What else? Turn it all into one of those powerful Dust shards you can make. Besides, we got plenty, and I want to see what effects of Fire Dust have on you."

Thinking about it, he shrugged. He was honestly curious himself. So, with an easy wave of his hand, he absorbed a good amount of the Dust into his body. He couldn't manage it all at once, limited to his current control, but the Dust quickly traveled up his arm and into the center of his chest. Like a will of fire, life breathed into him, warm and safe. He felt better than he had all day, all just by absorbing some Dust.

Jaune kept absorbing the remaining Fire Dust, draining the shards of their power. Soon the transformation was noticeable as he kept eating away at more and more. The tips of his hair, peeking out his hood, eventually gained a burnt texture, acting as small embers that constantly burned with black at the very edges. Weiss actually heard the sound of Jaune's hair burning, but the smell of burning hair was pleasantly absent.

There were the little things.

Like whenever he breathed, his breath was peculiarly warm, like a bright summer day. A bit of ash lined some of his hair and part of his face, mostly around his cheeks. Finally, his eyes pupils glowed like embers, constantly burning. However, all those pleasantries were thrown out the window to make room for his cocky smile.

"So?" Jaune smirked, sizzling with confidence. "How do I look?"

"Your hair's on fire if that's what you're asking."

"Really?" he grabbed the ends of one of his locks, unaffected by the burning sensation centered at the tips. He blew out a puff of fire, not caring that it almost burnt the table. "Awesome."

"Hey! Watch it!" Weiss yelled, trying to shove a _Dust for Dummies_ pamphlet into his hands. "You almost burnt the table! Don't you know how dangerous Fire Dust—?"

The pamphlet was quickly swiped out of her hands, being used as a mock fan before he brushed it against her shoulder in a small annoyance. The little _pokes_ he did were just a small bonus.

"Don't lecture _me_ on Dust safety!" Jaune glowered, quickly using the will of fire to snuff the pamphlet out by a wisp of flames, turning it to black ash between his fingers. "Oops! It spontaneously caught on fire. I heard that happens to these things all the time."

When he handed it back to her, it disintegrated before she could open it, leaving a messy pile of decay between her fingers for her to deal with. The rest got burnt away when Jaune shot a wisp of fire at the pile with his fist, leaving no remaining evidence behind, except for the obvious scorch mark on their desk. It clashed well with the burgundy oak.

She crossed her arms a moment after, leg folded over the other, challenging his smug glare. "You're a bit of a _hothead_ right now, you know that!"

Jaune only heard one word and he leaned on the table, breath sizzling. "You think I'm hot?"

"Just make the Dust already!"

"I didn't hear a no!" Jaune singed. She pinched him, she actually _pinched him_. "Okay! Alright, alright, don't lose your temper!" Weiss had her fingers ready for another pinch, not liking the pun all that much. He quickly retreated and opened his palm, adding Aura. A condense shard of Fire Dust quickly rose alive like a phoenix. "There you go. One supercharged Fire Dust to go!"

"Supercharged?" Weiss echoed, fighting the urge to roll her eyes. "You seriously need to come up with better names for this type of Dust. It's a mouthful."

He tossed the shard up, catching it between his fingers. "Well, what am I supposed to call it? I can't exactly call it Fire Dust. It's too powerful to be labeled that."

"I don't know..." Weiss answered, taking the time to rub her chin. She looked up at saw the remnant embers burn off his hair, unable to support itself without Dust to fuel it. "How about Embers?"

"Embers?"

A shrug was the response he got. "I'm just going off what your hair does. There are little embers at the end."

He reached for his tips, rubbing off the dying fire in captivation. It would make saying the charged shards easier on the tongue, and to be fair, he was getting tired of saying supercharged. Didn't roll off the tongue like he had hoped. Embers, on the other hand, sounded better and felt like smooth silk leaving his mouth.

Interested in the name change, he gripped the Dust shard and held it out for Weiss to grab. "Embers it is."

When it was all said and done, she plucked the shard out of his hands, replacing that smug look of hers with one captured by grimace. "Aw!"

She missed his knowing smile. "Oh, watch out. It's hot."

Weiss sucked on her finger to cool the burn, undignified for a Dust Heiress. Her glare burned hotter than Embers, yet, Jaune felt nothing. The Arc grabbed the dropped Dust shard, spellbound by the intense glow, wondering silently how much Fire Dust he could possibly stuff into it. There had to be a theoretical limit. Right? Limits existed, but his thoughts were buried away when Weiss reached into her bag and pulled out an assortment of Dust, a lot of misplaced and disorganized Dust.

She really was a Rainbow.

"I want some Dust made. I'm prepared to offer you some Ice Dust for compensation."

He smiled at the idea of adding more Ice Dust to his supercharged Ice Dust. Anything to keep what was quickly becoming his favorite Dust in tiptop shape. And practicing his Dust crafting was just a nice reward. Meanwhile, across from them, sat Pyrrha Nikos and Ruby Rose was trying for the life of them to finish the assignment. Then again, Pyrrha wasn't really taking the assignment to heart and Ruby had already sneezed three times and blown her up in a cloud of soot and cinder.

No.

The champion was more muffled about other topics, distracted by her pride if anything. She was on a mission. A mission of information gathering! How could Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, just brush her off without a second thought? She just didn't get it. It made absolutely no sense to her. What happened to let's be partners?

Could she have found someone better than her?

Impossible!

Pyrrha didn't understand how someone could be better than her? Her! Sure, that might sound a little congratulatory coming from the champion and whatnot, and she liked to think she was humbler than that, but she had her pride to think about. She did graduate at the top of her class at Sanctum and win the Mistrial Region Tournament four years running. That was raw talent if she did say so herself.

Pyrrha must look at this from a logical point-of-view. "He is a Dust master with a Semblance to control Dust. It would make sense for Weiss to appreciate her new partner."

But to completely brush Pyrrha off, well, now she was interested in the blond noodle. And by interested, she was enthralled. Now she wanted to know more about the two. Pyrrha wasn't lying before; she really would enjoy some powerful Dust to add to her arsenal.

 _Achoo_!

Pyrrha was quickly growing to hate fire with a burning passion.

...

Jaune stretched his arms, getting ready for the last class of the day, combat class! He was in the locker room, preparing to fight Yang, her choice, not his. Still, the Arc felt good. No sickness or urge to throw up. Best of all, he managed to increase the power of his Ice Dust shard. That was there to lift his spirits. However, his Dust supply was severely limited to gravity, ice, and wind. Not too many options to choose from and very less to spare.

Using more Dust would be the ideal next move, but he didn't exactly want to burn out his reserves. So he was going to have to old-school it and use Crocea Mors, and even if his swordplay wasn't the greatest, he'd still got years of training to make up for it.

Better than being a faker or cheat.

Gripping his weapon, he walked out the locker room and into the battle arena. There, Yang waited impatiently for him, knuckles placed right upon her hips. She had this smirk that told of future pain. And Jaune believed it. He'd seen what those arms were capable of.

Yang leaned forward, hungry for battle. "You can just give up now."

Jaune laughed, weapon drawn. "In your dreams!"

The girl clicked her teeth together and readied herself into a stance; prepared for the second Professor Goodwitch started the fight. Jaune held his shield up with Crocea Mors above his head, itching to move. He wanted payback for Yang's headlock from earlier and payback he would earn!

"Begin!"

She was the first to charge, propelling herself forward with a shotgun aided blast. Her fist was cocked back, ready to deliver a powerful blow to his head, but the Arc brought his shield up at the last minute, rocking against her velocity-induced punch. The force alone caused him to skid back. Yang offered him little time to rest, unleashing a barrage of shotgun shells at his stunned position.

Blocking the first with his shield, he cut the other in half, bringing the fight to her with a quick dash. His first attempt at a strike was sidestepped, but he managed to slide underneath a fist meant to collide with his nose. Then he heaved his shield up, hitting her squarely on the jaw. The victory was short-lived as she grabbed his shield moved and moved it away to deliver a nasty headbutt.

Stepping back, Jaune rubbed his head, sore from the blow Yang delivered. She grinned like an animal, undeterred by his bashing or her head-butt. Then like lightning, she moved again, getting within his personal bubble with a hailstorm of punches. They weren't as powerful as the previous two, but where they lacked in strength, they more than made up for in numbers.

Dropping his shield, he managed to grab one of Yang's fists, trapping the other in an arm lock between his arm and torso. He used the stalemate to deliver a powerful kick to her stomach, thanking his flexibility from years of dance.

The moment she staggered back, Jaune rushed her, cutting into her Aura with Crocea Mors. He relented picking up the shield, needing his other arm to increase the dexterity of the swings. He managed to deliver a few cuts in before Yang managed to regain her bearings, pushing him back by flicking the sword and propelling a fist for his chest with a shotgun blast added.

The move landed. Jaune wasn't even given time to shake the pain away since she was connecting another fist to his shoulder and then lower jaw. Those ones weren't shotgun induced, they just hurt really badly, and he forced them apart by throwing in a sloppy kick that was meant to be a feint.

Luckily for him, it worked.

Taking the time to breathe, he flared up his Aura, hoping to do some major damage with his next move. He gripped Crocea Mors with both hands, armed and ready. And at the drop of a sound, he moved forward and concentrated on his Aura to increase his strength and swung Crocea Mors down upon her, getting blocked halfway by Yang's gauntlets used as a shield. He could tell she was grunting from the force behind his swing, buckling slightly from underneath the pressure, but she powered on through it when her eyes turned into a lovely shade of crimson.

With his arm's outstretched over her head and before he could react, she was charging her other fist forward, fueled by the added momentum of shotgun released acceleration and her Semblance. Jaune could only grunt out in pain when she uppercut hit him squarely in his exposed stomach.

It threw him off his feet.

But he wasn't so helpless!

Rolling off the floor, he got up; begging his Aura to reverse the damage, but something went wrong. He felt it and saw it in Professor Goodwitch's eyes. Not only that, but he was also confused. The fight had barely started. Both their Aura was still freshly in the green, so why wasn't Yang charging at him? And why did he suddenly taste iron in his mouth?

Only when he felt the tickle of liquid traveling down his jaw did he pause. A light peck of fingers revealed blood. Peering down also revealed a stain of blood on his armor, and it took him a moment to realize that it was his blood on his body, not his opponent's. He needed another minute to piece together the fact that he was currently bleeding out his mouth, Aura completely useless.

Fearless, Jaune tried concentrating on his Aura, urging it to heal and fix the damage. Maybe Yang's punch to his gut forced out some blood—wouldn't be the first time that happened to somebody, but something was terribly wrong. His Aura wasn't halting or mitigating the blood flow at all. In fact, Jaune felt—!

 _C-Cough_!

Quickly stabbing his sword into the floor, he leaned on his ancestor's blade as his body worsened. His strength was quickly abandoning him. "What... what's happening?"

He felt worse than he had this morning.

Yang moved forward, no longer in the mood to fight. She saw the blood. She saw the way her leader was stumbling. "Jaune? What's wrong?"

The Charismatic Leader focused on his Aura again, forcing his body off his sword. His heart was beating loudly in his ears, unable to drink in the air his heavy breathing was pulling in. Palms were shaking with sweat and another emotion entirely. Legs were quickly giving out. No matter how much he called on his Aura, it did nothing. He was even tempted to say it was worsening his condition, but that couldn't be right.

Aura was meant to heal!

Hell! Jaune never even made it off his sword, body giving out on him and fainting right then and there.

...

 _Beep_! _Beep_!

Patiently waiting at her partner's bedside, Weiss Schnee glared down at the boy that was her partner for the next four years. For over a day he'd been out cold, attached to a few machines that monitored his vitals.

She was no doctor, but something told her that Beacon's finest have no clue with what was wrong with her partner. They have him hooked up to a bunch of machines, none of which stabilized his condition or even helped in that regard. The hardest part was when Weiss overheard them talking in the hallways, stumped. The fact was the doctors couldn't find anything wrong with him. He was physically healthy and in good conditioned, but he was deteriorated away by the seconds, Aura powerless but plentiful to his sickness. At this rate, he wouldn't last a few more days.

Bitter, she ran over thoughts over the battle once more, exhausting herself to the brim, but whatever link she was hoping to find was simply _not there_. Nothing out of the ordinary happened during Jaune and Yang's spar, so why did he suddenly pass out?

Why wasn't Jaune getting any better?

She was worried. It was understandable. Who wouldn't be if their partner passed out in the middle of combat class, with his Aura still in the green? Things like that shouldn't happen. Things like that _didn't_ happen. She still remembered the panic that happened soon after. Professor Goodwitch had called a medic when Jaune showed no response to the heaviest of touches. Like right now.

He showed no response to any medication.

Sighing, Weiss hunched a little on her seat, wishing for some company. The rest of his friends showed up at some point or another, but she was his partner, Weiss needed to be here until he woke up, but that didn't mean she wasn't bored. Visiting hours would soon be over.

Checking the time, her eyes roamed over to the clock hanging on the wall, seeing the big hand and little hand land on five. Scratch soon be over, her time was up now. Saddened, she got up from her chair and stood at the edge of his bed, frown impossible to miss. She didn't know exactly what to say, so she winged it and allowed whatever her mind settled on.

"Look, we just became partners, so I'm not too sure how to feel. But it would really dampen everything if you decided to croak, so try not. Okay? Dust experts are a dying breed." Her joke flew over his head, or maybe he didn't have the energy to laugh? Nonetheless, she fished out a vial of his Ice Dust out her skirt. "Here, I brought you some Dust, but the nurses wouldn't let me bring it inside, something about liabilities, so I snuck it in. I thought maybe seeing it would make you feel better? Dust is your life after all, like mine, so maybe it could give you a good kick in the butt and wake you up?"

No response.

Frowning, she heard the _knocking_ of the nurse outside. "Yeah... this was a dumb idea. I'll be back tomorrow to check on how you're doing. Don't die. Here, I'll leave this here. I'll retrieve it in the morning before anyone sees it." Shaking the shard one more time, she purposely placed it on her chair with a tiny get well soon card next to it. "I got to go now. Visiting hours are over."

Turning around, she missed the way his eyes clawed up. The presence of Dust had awakened his soul in a last-ditch effort. The energy needed to turn his head was monstrous, he wasn't even sure if he could fully open his eyes. All he wanted to do was close his eyes and drift off, but instinct told him not to. Didn't matter how weak he felt, it yelled for him to remain awake.

He might not wake up a second time.

Finally managing to turn his head, he was powerless, unable to yell to Weiss for _help_. His vision then traveled down to the Ice Dust on the chair, being a beacon in his bleak little world. Like hunger, Jaune desperately moved his hand to reach out and absorb the Dust, instinct-driven to, but there was a problem—he couldn't absorb the Dust from a distance.

Feeling the darkness creeping back onto him with his voice unusable, he reached out with a shaky, powerless hand, abiding by the call of Ice Dust. Like an animal, instinct drove him above all else, all demanded he absorbed the Dust now! And just as Weiss shut the door, he managed to grab the Ice Dust, drinking each spec like a desperate man in a desert.

 _Gasp_!

Catching his breath for the life of him, he swiftly sat up with a deep panic and weakness vanishing. Ice soon frosted on the tips of his hair and parts of his skin, spreading across his inner soul like a universal medicine. He just realized he was without a shirt, which meant he could see the properties of Ice Dust on his body, rather than only his face. Splotches of his chest were covered in a layer of ice, blanketed over him like a never-ending tundra of snow, but he pressed that interesting footnote aside for grander schemes.

Shaking his head, Jaune coughed a few times, getting whatever he had out of his system. Each wheeze made him feel better. Every breath rejuvenated his life. Seconds ticked on by until he finally settled his breathing, inspecting the spot from where he had retrieved the Ice Dust. A card was there. He reached out and grabbed the card Weiss left, actually smiling in his frosty form. There wasn't any writing, but there was a picture of a snowman with a crown, probably meant to symbolize his Ice King persona. All the other corners were covered by snow.

Placing the card back, Jaune glared down at his body, wondering how he got here. The last thing he remembered was fighting Yang and then nothing. It'd be more worrisome if his cold emotions allowed him to feel such a thing. Leave it to his partner in crime to bring him a Dust shard that sharpened his mind to think and not feel, although, thanks to Ice Dust, he was calm enough to not throw a tantrum and figure things without losing his head. Her idea to bring him a shard of Ice Dust actually turned out to be a blessing. Heck! She even snuck it in for him.

Guess Jaune owed her his life. She was like an angel that delivered him a snowstorm when he needed it—a Snow Angel.

Weiss was really cementing herself to that title.

Checking his surroundings, he found his heart monitor. His body temperature read below ninety-degrees, guaranteed hypothermia for anyone else but him. Funny, his heart wasn't racing to get the blood flowing through his body, most likely due to his Dust powers keeping him from feeling the negative effects of such an ailment. Oh well, didn't really matter to him.

What mattered was figuring out what the hell was happening to his body.

Turning to hang his feet off the edge of his bed, he grabbed the clipboard by his bed and flipped through the diagnostic written down, panic dying in replacement of cold-calculating eyes.

 _Healthy Aura_

 _Good shape_

 _No signs of foreign contamination of viruses_

 _Lack of family history of genetic disorders_

 _Brain scans came back negative of anomalies_

Frowning, he shut the clipboard, impassive to the whole thing. "What's going on here? What am I missing?"

His Dust expertise came out to play, connecting the messing jigsaw that was his life. Normality proved to be useless, as always. It was forced to take a backseat as Jaune began scratching the surface to the anomaly that was him. First, he was deeply interested in his weakness episodes. Those have come and gone way more than average, and by average, their sudden appearance a couple of days prior was frightening to think about.

Not to mention it hit the worst during his spar with Yang. That much he did remember.

Instantly, he ruled out sickness. If Beacon's finest doctors couldn't find anything remotely wrong with him, and clipboards were notoriously bad liars, then it had to be a problem they had no experience in, or a problem solely meant for him. That only left Dust. The final nail to prove this was the moment he absorbed the Ice Dust. Like a flip of the switch, he was more than just cured. He was better off.

Dust was the culprit.

A saddening thought for the Ice King, but too much of a good thing could be bad. A lesson from Professor Oobleck. Still, he was eternally grateful for Ice Dust's ability to turn his shuffled thoughts into one linear line. A cold-calculating thought process really did simplify things, even if he couldn't enjoy the benefits of his reaping. Having a heart made of ice did that to a person. The cold shoulder was just a bonus.

Tossing the clipboard away, Jaune blinked with resolution, intent on discovering the cause of his staggering.

Grabbing the cords attached to his chest, he gripped the cords tightly before pulling them off. The offset sound of his nonexistent heartbeat was sure to attract the staff, but he cared little about such a thing. He was too preoccupied glaring down at the Ice Dust glowing in his chest. More so, he was curious about his sudden ability to breathe and move like it was second nature, previous symptoms gone.

Forgoing the telltale sound of rapidly approaching footsteps, Jaune sighed and tried to figure out what was happening. Because, to be perfectly blunt, this wasn't the first time this sickness had hit him, but it was the first time he was forced to actually deal with it. The past few days the urge to die crawled upon him, like a bad plague he couldn't shake off. And it always happened whenever he woke up or lacked Dust, both of which had a correlation that was obvious to even a child, never mind him.

Counting the factors, he moved away from his patient bed, not wanting to be confined for another second. Like dominoes, he listed them off, perplexed. Aura perfectly fine, vitals okay, brain scan negative, body in good shape, no signs of some genetic disorder, and yet he still usually awoke every morning feeling like he went five rounds with a Death Stalker and lost.

Walking to the nearby sink in perfect health, Jaune splashed some warm water upon his face as the door to his room was burst opened by frantic doctors. When he glared at the reflection staring back at him, the pieces all came crashing down. The glow in his chest, the glow's disappearing acts, his outward appearance, Aura's failure to aid him, and his ability to call on the elements of Dust itself; it all finally made perfect sense.

 _So, you're a walking Dust shard?_

 _You use Dust and you are Dust._

"Weiss was right about one thing. I am a walking Dust shard."

And his Aura was eating him alive like one.

* * *

 **Author Notes:** Team **PRRN** is Prune, not Porn. Perverts.


	7. Cream

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing of RWBY.

* * *

 **Cream**

 **By: Imyoshi**

Jaune Arc barely reacted to the doctors' questions.

All the sound in the hospital room dissipated, frozen like half his body. He hardly responded to when they forced him to sit down, when they examined his eyes, questioned how he was feeling, or poke and prodded his skin with their instruments. He ignored it all, too busy focusing on the matter at hand.

Was he a literal walking Dust shard?

It sounded absurd because it was absurd. People didn't just become Dust. Things like that didn't happen. Dust expert or not, theories simply remained missing. Even if he accounted for the fruit granting him the gift of Dust control—that he irrefutably believed—becoming Dust itself left missing variables to account for.

Dust was inorganic. It was a crystal that could be powdered down into a volatile substance. It was a rock! Nothing organic existed in the chemical bonds that made Dust what it was. Outside of the hydrogen and carbon that existed from the _elemental_ properties of charged Dust shards, they lacked the atoms to be such. Meaning technically being a Dust shard was far-fetched as inorganic material had no need for substance, which forced the question once more.

Was Jaune Arc a walking Dust shard, or something more?

Not all rocks were inorganic, coal being one of the few exceptions, but Dust wasn't a piece of coal. None even contained fossils, pushing them closer to inorganic material. They were rocks that contained the elements composed inside, nothing more and nothing less.

"How many fingers am I holding?"

Jaune regarded the doctor in front of him with cold eyes, still under the effects of a supercharged shard of Ice Dust. He wasn't angry, only annoyed, cold personality only amplified said passive emotions. The doctors failed to realize how healthy and away from Death he was, but they insisted on running many tests and driving his patience up the wall. Okay, sure, he understood why they cared; coming back from the brink of death didn't exactly happen every day. Not to mention he came back with picture-perfect health, but it hardly made the tests any less bothersome.

"Four."

The older man with greying hair nodded in satisfaction and scribbled notes. He wore the typical doctor getup, lab coat, and slacks, and regarded the Arc as a test subject, rather than a patient. Jaune didn't mind it too much. At least he didn't nudge more about the layer of ice encompassing half his body. Being a physician at a Huntsmen Academy probably robbed away the whole wow factor, and he preferred to keep the true secrets to his Dust-Dust abilities hidden.

"Good. We're almost done here and then you could leave and return to your dorm."

He almost believed the man, but common sense dictated a surprise visit from Headmaster Ozpin in the future. Ice Dust's cold personality sure made the world a whole lot clearer to see. Not exactly a good thing, but not a bad thing either.

A quick stethoscope and final kick to his knee and his physical checkup was concluded.

"Good. Everything seems to be fine. Your heart's health and your reflexes are good. You're all set. You're free to leave but do please check back tomorrow evening. I want to make sure everything is alright and run a few more tests. It's not every day that something like this happens."

Jaune shrugged and put his shirt back on. "Sure, I'll drop by for a surprise visit, Doctor..."

The elder man grinned and offered a hand. "Constable, Doctor Constable."

He quickly shook his hand. "Ah. Thanks again, Doc."

"Ah! Don't go just yet! I have something for you!" Doctor Constable retrieved medicine from his cabinet. "Here you go. This is pain medication for any pains and Daydream Dust to help you sleep." When he handed the bag over to Jaune, the room grew eerie silent. "Is something the matter?"

There was. The leader of Team ABYS made sure to point it out. "You guys put your medicine in a... paper bag?"

"We ran out of plastic. Everyone wants plastic."

"It's not that." Jaune argued, cursed with cold-calculating thoughts. "It just doesn't seem so sanitary. It's almost crazy."

The doctor grinned and pushed him out the door. "Like I said, we ran out of plastic."

That only made the Arc worry more. How many people got injured at Beacon? How could they not have enough plastic? It was plastic! Paper, if _anything_ , was more expensive to stock up on. It was simply mind-boggling.

Shrugging, he left the infirmary and headed straight for his weapon locker. He had zero intent about going back to his team's room, not while his Aura ate away at his life. A theory he didn't quite believe, but believing it or not didn't change the fact he needed Dust to keep going. That law proved itself the second he absorbed the ice shard Weiss had brought him.

A few students stopped to stare at the walking icicle, but he simply gave them the cold shoulder and hoped the news of his recovery didn't reach his team yet. Above all else, he needed more Dust. Having them fussing over his health was the last thing he needed to slow him down. Although, now knowing about his severe condition, Jaune wanted more than to reach out and steal the surrounding Dust from the student body.

He didn't, obviously, but he wanted to.

Quickening his pace, he found his locked and retrieved Crocea Mors and headed straight for Beacon's Courtyard, hoping to come up with some sort of strategy to acquire more Dust. Except for the obvious find the Dust in Emerald Forest route, he needed time to think without his team worrying and hovering over his shoulder.

They wouldn't understand— _couldn't_ understand. Even worse, his might condition might cause a rift between them if they knew. Not like the idea of keeping secrets from them made his soul sing, but if word got out about his condition, the ramifications might be dire.

Like Headmaster Ozpin kicking him out of Beacon for liabilities dire.

Sometimes he hated this cold-thinking mind of his; it forced him to remain vigilant and distant. Other moments like this made him appreciate it. Ice Dust sure had its advantages over the others, like keeping ignorance away. Guess ice was stubborn like that. Toughening up and becoming solid sounded a lot like water turning into ice. Suddenly, he wasn't allowed to go-the-flow and dealt with his problems head-on.

Again, it sounded awful, a complete contrast to the normal Jaune Arc, but it was a blessing in disguise.

Reaching the courtyard, he found the fountain and sat down with Crocea Mors dug into the cracks of the pavement. He stayed there for a few minutes, considering options to solving his Dust dilemma, but even his icy personality failed to think of any long-term solutions. Too many variables messed with the plans in some shape or form.

Sitting at Beacon's Fountain for a few more fruitless minutes, the Arc suddenly screamed and rubbed his hair in frustration, flicking off chunks of ice from his bangs. He hated how backward his life suddenly became. One minute he was healthy and normal, the next he was on borrowed time. This blessing had turned into a curse. Dust was slowly killing him. Dust!

Well, to be perfectly logical, he couldn't absolutely say that for sure, but it wasn't like any other reasons made themselves known. So unless another possibility presented itself, he was stuck with Emerald Forest being his temporary solution.

Jaune sighed, he hardly had any options. Dust prices have skyrocketed to new heights. His supply, while not measly, would be eaten up in a few days. What other choice did he have? Emerald Forest, although not primarily ideal, had Dust. He knew that much after being flung into the air. Until he discovered a more secure and robust way of maintaining a constant supply of Dust, well, supply and demand was a fickle concept, to say the least.

With Crocea Mors and shield in hand, he got up and headed for the forest, prepared to search for Dust. He never made it more than a few feet before a cold voice—and colder tone—froze him right in his tracks.

"And _where_ do you think you're going? I know you're not heading into Emerald Forest, especially not after just leaving the infirmary."

Jaune grew frigid, not daring to turn around and glare at eyes colder than his. "How'd you know I was already out of the infirmary?"

"Your doctor messaged me." The Arc cursed under his breath, so much for doctor-patient confidentiality. "Well? Are you going to say something or do I have to message the others? I'm sure Yang would be more than happy to get you."

The tapping of her foot painted a pretty picture of her hands rested on her hips, head most likely cocked to the side, glare accusingly icy. Was it strange he considered the posture and attitude cute? Of course, it was. That had to be the Ice Dust personality affecting him.

Jaune tried giving her the cold shoulder, but her chilly demeanor was having none of that. His stony attitude hardly affected her. She knew better. Darn Ice Dust.

A cold wisp of air blew out his mouth when he realized she wasn't leaving him be. So when he turned around, the coldness of his eyes revealed the seriousness of the problem. They reflected the emptiness of a blizzard, bitter and frigid.

She still walked into the eye of the storm and waited for his excuse.

"There's no point in lying to you, Weiss. I'll cut straight to the point. I've learned a terrible, horrible secret. My Semblance—my Dust-Dust powers—is eating away at my Aura. Heck, the only reason I'm even standing here, and not still stuck in that lousy bed, _dying_ , was because you brought me that Dust shard. Without it, well, I prefer not to think about it." His shoulders dropped and his mood fell a few degrees. "Now that you know, I won't blame you if you decide to ask Ozpin for a new partner. It's probably better if you do."

Weiss huffed and crossed her arms with a coolness that matched his own. Cold calculations were fine and dandy, business people used them all the time, but that was neither here nor there. Now that she knew what troubled her partner, she could take preemptive measures to help. And if what he said was true—and Weiss saw no reason for it not to be, not while he borrowed the template of the Ice King—then there was only one feasible option presented to her.

Without uttering a word, she waltzed passed him, offering the dumbfounded Arc a cold shoulder of her own. When it was made abundantly clear he was frozen in place, she threw her hair back and tapped her foot in adorable five foot three frustration.

"Well, come on then, we're losing daylight by dilly-dallying here. That Dust isn't going to find itself."

He blinked. "Wait? Huh? What?"

She rolled her eyes but managed to make it sincere. "Look, we all have our reasons for being here. I left my home to change the Schnee family name for the better. You of _all_ people must know the bad rep my family name has. But how can I accomplish such a goal if I turned my back on my own partner? I'd only be proving all the negativity right. So, of course, I'm going to help you. And that means hurry up and get your butt moving. We're losing daylight just standing here."

Weiss had meant for it to sound cold. She had never been one for emotional talks and felt sort of responsible for the trouble Jaune was in. If the Dust trains only had better security, then the robberies might've not happened, and her partner wouldn't be forced to search for Dust in a Grimm-infested forest.

"Weiss..."

His melting voice betrayed his chilled exterior and made her lips curl upward.

Even the Ice King's heart could be thawed.

...

Getting to the edge of Emerald Forest hardly took any time, but the entire walk had been drowned in silence.

It unnerved the Ice King.

When they reached the edge of the forest, he quickly dug his hand into his pocket, pulling out the first Dust shard he could.

It was Wind Dust.

"What are you doing?"

A quick shuffle extracted the Ice Dust from his body, turning his personality and hair back to normal. He quickly pocketed it away and tossed up the shard of wind in amusing curiosity. "Saving my Ice Dust, I'm not trying to go through it all in one go. It's far too precious to be used for scavenging."

Of course, the Heiress was skeptical. "Have you even used Wind Dust before? I can't possibly imagine what personality will take over."

Jaune waved away her concern and played with the shard in his fingers. It was beyond light. "Nope! But now is as good a time as any to practice. Besides, that's the fun of it. So, how bad could Wind Dust be?"

She still wasn't feeling the optimism. "I don't know, I've only met your fire and ice side. And only one of them I can stand, barely."

"I'm starting to think you're still mad at me for almost bailing on you."

She huffed and crossed her arms, waiting for her partner to absorb the Dust. He didn't disappoint and drained the shard in one go, turning into the personification of Wind Dust. The first thing she noticed, except for a harsh wind brushing past her cheek, was the way Jaune's hair waved in a constant influx of turbulence.

This air of confidence entrapped his personality, only to be competing with that goofy smile of his.

"Whoa!" Jaune laughed, dancing on his feet. "I feel like a million lien!"

He danced past Weiss and zoomed back in forth in appreciation of everything. The trees, the rocks, the dirt, he even appreciated the wide open space for simply existing. When he finished all that nonsense, he jumped over to the Heiress, landing with silent grace. It reminded her of past activities.

"You're surprisingly light on your feet. My dance instructor had a name for people like you."

He ignored the idea of Weiss having a dance instructor and grinned silly. "Was it majestic, amazing, beautiful or everything above? You can tell me!"

"It was Twinkle Toes."

For the first time since absorbing the Wind Dust, Jaune frowned. The one thing he despised about his childhood was the dance lessons his mother sent him to and the teasing his seven sisters insisted with said lessons. Sure, they danced too, but they were girls. Twinkle Toes just sounded like a dancer title fit for a boy. To think all bending he learned so far required the footwork of a dancer, Wind Dust most likely included.

Why? Why had Oum forsaken him?

Quickly getting over it, he threw his arms toward the forest. "Whatever! Ready to go, Weiss?"

Weiss arched a brow. He was the one who stopped to switch Dust. She had been ready but paused instead of moving. A thing had been eating away at her since finding the noodle at the fountain, ever since she received the message from that strange doctor.

"Before we go..." she demanded. "I must ask... why didn't you want to tell us about your Dust problems? You must have your reasons, I'm sure, but this will be so much easier if we have the whole team."

"To be fair, I only just figured it out!" Jaune's laugh did nothing to weaken Weiss' glare. Sigh. "I didn't want to bother them. I didn't want to bother any of you. None of you signed up to look after your own leader's health. If this got out, well, I can't imagine Ozpin wanting to keep me in school with such a condition. It's not fair to burden you guys with my faults and possible expulsion."

Weiss loved poking holes in plans. "You know Yang's not going to accept that. She's been freaking out since your guy's match."

"Which is why I'm asking you _not_ to tell them. I don't want to worry any of them."

She scoffed and smacked him across the head. "Stop being such an idiot. We're a team now. She's going to want to know, Blake too. You can't keep this a secret forever. It's going to get out."

He breathed sadly. "I know it is. Just let me try to solve the problem my own way first. And if that's not working out, then we can tell them."

Her eyes narrowed dangerously. She could accept those terms. Accepted or not, though, the idea of his Aura eating away at his body sounded convoluted at best. He possibly didn't believe it and was probably using this foraging as a way to cope or figure things out. So, yes, she'd accepted the terms of the agreement, but that hardly meant she _accepted_ them.

"Fine then." Weiss pushed, moving toward the forest. "Let's go already. I don't want to spend all day here."

That silly grin of his almost made her accept those terms.

...

In Weiss Schnee's professional opinion, Jaune hyped up on heavily concentrated Wind Dust was like watching a child with a limitless amount of imagination. He couldn't stay still for too long. Couldn't be scolded or verbally chastised. Everything sort of flew over his head. Nothing could hold him down. Her partner had total freedom while bending the air and didn't have any problems running around a Grimm-infested forest.

Honestly, he acted like a total airhead.

Not to mention there were other things. His hair had no _off-switch_. None of which she could find. It sort of acted like a wind constantly blew in his face, wavy and unkempt at random intervals. To top it off, he had this big, goofy smile whenever he addressed her. Nothing could wipe that grin off his face. Not even his possible demise erased or skewed it.

Beyond the scope of blind optimism and mismatched delusions, one thing Wind Dust provided for her partner was the ability to move amazingly quick. Whenever he ran, be it sudden or continuous, it was like there was no resistance to hold him back. She doubted he even noticed with all his running around. Like right now, he was running toward her with an object cupped in his hand and danced around the trees without a care.

"Hey Weiss, look what I found!"

Weiss glared down at the object in his hands and frowned. "It's a peach."

"I know! It kinds of looks like Blake! Isn't that neat?"

Weiss wholeheartedly disagreed. The peach resembled nothing of Blake. Nothing at all about the peach's firmness or round-plumped shape resembled Blake in any regard. Nope. She couldn't see any correlation.

He didn't stop to check his surroundings before running off again. This version of Jaune Arc threw caution to the wind and allowed it to carry him without a set destination. He had no sail. He was the sail.

Yup! An airhead fit the bill. She'd only say dolt if he brought her another fruit, and he did just that. Running back with two melons between his hands, grin carefree, Jaune pushed them into her hands.

"These ones remind me of Yang! Who knew there was so much fruit lying around?"

Weiss blinked and lifted the fruits up, pressing them close to her chest. Where was he getting these analogies for description? These melons looked nothing like Yang. Her hands barely gripped the darn fruits. Yang her butt!

Dropping the fruits, she tapped him on the chest. "Okay, we need to focus! Remember, we're searching for Dust so you don't die from your own Aura—wow! After saying it out loud, it's kind of hard to believe."

Jaune laughed. "I know, huh?"

Forgetting that, she rubbed her forehead and dug Myrtenaster into the dirt. They weren't getting anywhere and they were losing sunlight on top of that. She almost wished Jaune would absorb the Ice Dust again or at least considered another one like Gravity or Barrier Dust. She couldn't imagine how those attitudes would mesh, but anything over wind was better at this point.

 _Screech_!

The partners whipped their head up to find a baboon-type of Grimm howling from a branch with a bone-stick in its hand, most likely a Sapiens! The Grimm had a lanky body with a thick bush of hair around its neck that extended from one end to another. A deep, bone structure nose adorned its features, matching only to the bone-plating that connected from its shoulders and downwards. Upon closer look, it was more closely related to a mandrill monkey. Either way, it screeched with a bone-stick firmly held over its head, ready to pounce at a given moment.

Knowing their emotions hadn't been anywhere near negative; Weiss allowed her eyes to travel down to the fallen fruit, putting two-and-two together. "Jaune? Where did you find the fruits?"

He scratched his head. "Uh, up in some tree. You should've seen it, there were paintings everywhere. My favorite one was the Monarch Leo!"

She cursed under her breath and lunged out of the way of the Grimm's pounce, dragging her feet on the forest floor. Her partner had quickly covered the distance between and slid up to her, unable to stay still on his feet. They barely had time to form a plan, stuck on defense from a surprisingly fast Grimm that covered the distance in one pounce.

Breaking apart, Weiss ducked after the Grimm attempted to whack her on the head with its stick. She used the Grimm's extended arm as an opening and thrust her rapier forward, intending to hit underneath the armpit. The Grimm surprised her by jumping up and balancing itself on the edge of her blade with one hand, before flipping midair and whacking her across the clearing with its long tail.

Jaune immediately ran over and stopped her momentum, tagging in for his partner. He gripped Crocea Mors and charged at the bamboo, speed fast, sword raised and coordination not so perfect. The Grimm took notice of this and met his tool with its, clashing metal with hardened bone in a quick stalemate, quick because suddenly its tail wrapped around the handle of Crocea Mors and dragged the weapon out of Jaune's hands, before throwing it into the bark of a nearby tree.

It was a stunning move, one Jaune hadn't ever heard a Grimm performing, but he had little time to marvel over it. Instincts drove him to avoid the attempted whacking of the bone-stick, dodging each blow by following the path of least resistance. He dodged to the side when the Grimm aimed forward, ducked for all side body attempts, and limboed when his head was in danger, but he forgot to account for the tail and found his ankle wrapped by it.

Pulled by a strong force, he fell flat on his back, eyes quickly widening when the stick rushed for his skull.

Throwing his arms forward, a sudden gust of wind acted as a shield and blew them both away. Jaune ended up sliding against the floor but quickly balanced himself up with a gust of wind blowing the dust away from his legs. The Sapiens, however, easily landed on its feet and regarded the human like an animal in a zoo. The Grimm only tilted its head wider when Jaune researched his hands in acute fascination.

"Okay! Fire needs direction, earth needs control, and water goes with the flow. I'm guessing wind needs something different? I don't know!" Jaune panicked when the Grimm suddenly lunged at him. "Looks like I'm about to find out!"

His body moved on at a moment's notice, changing directions with quick feet. He grabbed the bone-stick with both hands and stuck his foot out, tripping the Grimm while using the momentum from the fall to toss the Grimm across the forest floor. He quickly followed up with a forward fist, perplexed when no air shot forward. He attempted a half-lazy swing of his arm, getting no results. Hard footwork didn't stir any air around his feet either.

"Why isn't this working?"

He felt the stick coming before it hit him and instinctively threw his out in a crude circle, instantly calling upon a gust of wind to act as a shield and path for the stick to follow. While he managed to drive the weapon away, Weiss had to suddenly pull his hoodie back to prevent the Grimm from stomping on his head from atop the trees.

Damn thing had used the bone-stick as a distraction. Darn monkeys.

Staring at the crater beneath the Grimm's feet, Jaune grinned and looked up at his partner. "Thanks, Weiss... that would've been bad."

She glared and then summoned a glyph to intercept the Grimm's tool, frowning form the way her glyph began to crack under the magnitude of pressure. Jaune quickly reacted and spun on the floor to get up, accidentally summoning up an arch of wind that drove all three of them back a safe distance.

When the wind dissipated, she blew a bang from her nose. "Don't you know how to use wind at all?"

"Does it look like I know how to use Wind Dust?"

She huffed and switched Myrtenaster over to said Dust, quickly getting into a stiff pose with a glyph under her feet and summoned up a tornado from the tip of her rapier. The gust of wind managed to hold the Grimm back, but it was slowly closing in by sticking its stick to the floor as an anchor. She tried increasing the turbulence, but the monkey had some surprising strength for one so lanky and small.

Jaune remained motionless through the struggle, eyes fixated on the way the wind moved, all free from restrictions. It moved in a circle, like a tornado. It never stopped. If anything, the wind only grew in tenacity. From where he was standing, wind needed to build up momentum before it could be directed and used. Weiss showed him that by thrusting her hand forward and using her glyph as a rock to prevent the turbulence from spiraling her out-of-balance.

Getting to his feet, he grinned at an idea and jumped into the vortex, ignoring his partner's cries. He used the accelerated vacuum to build up his own momentum and dashed at the struggling Grimm, landing a clean-fist for its jaw, before following up with a leg sweep that summoned up a dust of wind and flung the Grimm off its feet and into the heart of the vortex.

The intense air pressure shot the Grimm far back. Jaune followed up by mimicking the Wind Dust's way of moving by twisting his arms into a makeshift circle that got smaller the more he closed his arms together. Then, like a condensed vacuum, he flung his arms in a makeshift circle and grinned at the way a single torrent of gust flew straight for the monkey and collided with its body.

The force sent the Grimm through a few trees that ended up lying on top of it.

Weiss preserved her Dust and smirked at the damage. "Good job, Twinkle Toes."

He failed to comment, suddenly pressed to run backward and carry her out of the speeding tree's way.

Too bad he didn't notice the Grimm zooming toward them, eyes still locked on the free-falling tree. Jaune only realized when a powerful punch to his gut sent him flying and knocked the air out of his lungs.

Weiss managed to leave his hold just quick enough to avoid colliding with the same tree, pose strong and weapon gripped tightly. The Grimm stood before her; stick raised above its head and hand pressed outward in a makeshift barrier. It balanced itself on one foot, almost mocking her.

Growling, she circled around the primate, body tense. This Grimm moved strangely, fought strangely. It was weird. The Grimm moved like a human and used a weapon as one, definitely a first for the Dust Heiress. It didn't react out of instinct. That much was plainly obvious. No moves were wasted. It studied them, watched their every move with calculated eyes. She wouldn't even call those eyes monstrous. More like orbs full of wisdom for a Grimm with an advanced age.

Clicking her revolver, she switched over to Ice Dust and summoned an array of glyphs around the Grimm. In a moment's notice, before the Grimm realized, she zoomed from glyph to glyph and landed a quick strike on the primate's body that ended up covering a generous portion of its body in ice. This went on until she abruptly found her wrist gripped in a vice lock by its tail, suddenly pulled, flipped, and forced into the hard floor.

Weiss barely blinked, frozen in confusion as the Grimm hovered over her downed body with its bone-stick raised, apparently already free from its icy prison. She did, however, _gasp_ when a powerful gust of wind blew her skirt up and pushed her body away from the Grimm's strike at the last possible moment.

The Sapiens blinked this time, turning around when a powerful gust of wind smacked it on the head. There it met the human with his arms twisting in a makeshift circle. Jaune then thrust his hands forward, firing out a powerful gust of wind. The Grimm narrowed its eyes and spun the bone-stick into a propeller to counteract the harsh wind.

He had no choice but to tilt his head. "That's just not right."

The Grimm screeched and charged forward, galloping in an impressive amount of flexibility. He narrowed his eyes in a happy grin and met the Grimm head-on, accepting the challenge. They crossed the clearing and swayed their way across, seeing which other's avoid-and-evade tactic was better. Both were light on their feet, dancing around the other in strikes that never landed, backs practically pressed. It was a constant circle of increasing momentum and the Arc found his movements growing in speed as the momentum carried him.

Weiss was right, Twinkle Toes indeed.

Spontaneously clever, he quickly spun his arms and feet and created a somewhat powerful vortex that lifted both the Grimm and him off the floor. While spinning in the air, he threw his arm in a semi-circle arc and blasted a blade of wind at the freefalling Grimm, thus sending it to the same tree it had sent him to, breaking bark with a powerful torrent of gust.

The landing on his feet didn't happen so smoothly. While he was light, he forgot to account for wind resistance and ended up falling hard on the floor. Fortunately for him, Weiss pulled him up by the hoodie and then smacked him across the head.

"Ow! What was that for?"

She poked him _really_ hard on the chest. "That's for pushing my skirt up with your dumb wind!"

He rolled his eyes. "I think the words you're looking for are _thank you_."

 _Screech_!

She let his inappropriate behavior slide, for now, and turned to greet the advancing Grimm. She growled when it appeared to have no visible damage. "This Grimm is as tough as nails."

He easily disagreed, wagging a finger at the bouncing Grimm. "No... nails wish they were as tough as that."

The Grimm drew closer, bone-stick raised. Weiss narrowed her eyes and clicked the revolver to switch over to the Dust shard Jaune had created. She didn't anticipate using it so soon, but this Grimm proved to be an exception with its unusual unorthodox way of fighting, above average tactics, devastating strength and beyond the norm bone density.

Stepping back, Jaune's foot collided with the discarded fruit and a better idea formed. Maybe fighting wasn't always the answer. Maybe this Grimm was ultra-angry because for other reasons? Could be the fruit? He did pluck it from that tree. Possibly the Grimm was furious for him stealing its fruit?

Couldn't hurt to try.

Bending down, he waved his arm over Weiss to keep her from attacking the meticulous Grimm. "What are you doing?"

Jaune carefully picked up the fruits. "Hold on. I have an idea."

Trending easily, he walked over to the Grimm, the lightest on his feet he had ever been. He heard the way Weiss heaved as she probably contemplated his stupidity. Truthfully, he didn't blame her and wisely placed the fruits down near the Grimm, before taking a cautious step back.

"That's not going to work!"

The Grimm waved its bone-stick in the air, forcing the Arc to be quick on his feet and regroup with Weiss. Then, breaking the norm, it screeched and snorted at the two humans before swiping the fruit off the floor and grunting away in anger.

He chuckled at the silliness of it all. "You see, Weiss? Violence isn't always the answer!"

The Heiress blinked and replayed the event a multitude of times in her head. If it hardly made sense to her, that was because it didn't. Grimm didn't just go away. They didn't retreat when presented their prize. Unless, of course, that Grimm was beyond the terms of an advanced age and recognized the humans as nothing more than trivial nuisances and fruit thieves?

Weiss silently prayed for the former. Pride was a fragile mentality. Being labeled as a fruit thief, and by a Grimm above all else, hurt her psyche in more ways than one.

She eventually sighed and rubbed her growing headache. "I don't even know where to—ugh! Let's just find you some Dust and get out of here already."

Jaune laughed and they resumed exploring for anymore Dust, hoping to Oum to not run into another Grimm. Their searching led them through the foliage, passing branches and bugs. Weiss didn't mind it, but she kept looking over her shoulder for the off-chance of that baboon coming back to settle the score.

How her partner was finding fun in this little adventure was beyond her.

From off the distance, between the trees and vegetation, the Arc spotted a hole in a nearby mountain cliff. He swiftly ran ahead of her and came back a moment later to drag her by the wrist. She didn't physically fight back, knowing when he was under this Dust's properties, she might as well be arguing with a wall.

Weiss never said anything about verbally. "Could you slow down for just a minute?!"

He ignored her and revealed to her the big surprise with arms thrown up. "Hey Weiss, look! A cave! We're in luck! There's bound to be Dust deposits in there!"

"And why would we find Dust in a cave?"

He laughed. "Silly, Weiss, they're called Dust crystals, duh. Your family mines the stuff. I thought you knew that?"

"Of course I know my family mines the stuff. What I don't get is how a cave—?"

"Look!" Jaune's Dust logic overpowered the Wind Dust's emotional properties. "I would love to break down the geological properties and processes of The Dust Cycle. Wanna talk about Remnant's crust, lithosphere, transition zone, and three plate boundaries? No problem. How about how heat and pressure changes a rock? Cool. We could even go on about the recrystallization and the effects of rapid or slow cooling that gives Dust its unique elemental characteristics and crystal composition. But later! We're losing daylight. So, just trust me on this. Cave equals Dust and Dust equals a happy Arc and happy Schnee."

She paused—and she thought she had a mean streak. "I think I like you better when you're hyped up on Ice Dust."

He stuck his tongue out and ran inside, only to return in defeat. "It's dark in there."

"Must I do everything?" She hummed and shook her head, searching the forest floor until she found a stick. "Look. I found this branch. I'll just light it up with some Dust and—!"

"Oh! Oh! Allow me!"

Jaune quickly turned his remaining Wind Dust into a Dust fragment and absorbed his partner's Fire Dust, quickly turning into the hothead from before with ember-induced hair. He winked at the Heiress, smirking proudly when she huffed and fired a blast of fire from his fist.

The branch she was holding easily lit up flames. Fire easily illuminated her bored and nonchalant glare. "Was any of that really necessary?"

The hothead flexed arm and hammer in appreciation. "Doesn't have to be with power like this."

Ugh! She already missed airhead Jaune. "Just hurry up and switch back already. That's my Dust you're using."

"Yea, the one I made for you."

"Jaune!"

He threw his hands out in surrender with a cooling grin. "Alright! Alright! Calm down, Snowflake. Man, you're such a wet blanket sometimes."

Weiss had to stop herself from forming a fist. She'd show him what him a wet blanket! When they were sleeping. On his face. In the dead of the night. When his guard was dropped and she slept in the top bunk in silent victory.

During the planning of her backstabbing plot, her target had switched back over to his Wind Dust shard, becoming cheery once again with a constant gust of wind flowing through his hair. Like paper, his body felt light, toes almost dancing in the wind. A definite contrast to the cold demeanor of ice or the hotheadedness of fire, which made him wonder how a hyped up piece of Gravity or Smoke Dust would affect him.

Ah! Experiments to test another day. Right now he needed to focus on the task at hand. Grabbing a colossal amount of Dust to keep his Aura from consuming him whole!

Wow! Weiss was right. It did sound unbelievable the more he thought over it.

Truthfully, he wasn't sold on the concept of being made of Dust, organic versus inorganic material and all that, but considered the argument moot under the current circumstances. Later! When borrowed time wasn't breathing down his neck, Jaune would explore the realm of possibilities and find a better hypothesis to lean on.

Weiss had thrown a stone and hit him squarely on the forehead. "Hey! Stop daydreaming and let's get this over with!"

Just for that, he sucked in a huge amount of air and blew another gust of wind under her skirt. "Oops, I sneezed."

Snickering at her scrunched up nose, he danced over, feet light. The whack to his head was expected, he didn't dare dodge that, but her need to push him inside was just mean.

The inside of the cave was dark, damp, and dangerously dipping in direction—try saying that four times fast. The fire only provided so much visibility inside. Stalagmites and stalactites more than once blocked their path. Fungus and moss painted a pleasant picture. Everything else inside turned out to be empty space with small spots of limestone peeking out.

Now would be the perfect time to take up spelunking

Humming, Jaune still hadn't spotted any glows of resident Dust. Not a spark. So far the trip was turning out to be a waste of time.

Something he couldn't afford to waste.

"We might need to turn back."

Jaune was inclined to agree with her. This trip was a dud. The passageway was only getting narrower and steeper the deeper they went and they had no Dust to show for it. Someone must've already cleaned the place out. Wouldn't be too out-of-this-world with such a cave complex near Beacon.

The end of their journey came when they hit a wall of stone.

Placing a hand on the bedrock, he sighed and turned. "Yea, okay, let's get out of here."

 _Crack_! _Fracture_! _Rumble_!

Hearing the noise, the partners looked down to see the floor cracking underneath their feet. Their quick reaction-times weren't a match for gravity and soon found the cave caving in on them. Snapping, cracking, and popping quickly moved across the bedrock and the earth rumbled.

Weiss tried to remain upright. "It's an earthquake!"

The floor gave out and both found their bodies falling into a deep, dark cavern without a foreseeable bottom. Being light on his feet, he hastily moved his hands in a circle and shot a powerful turbulence of wind at Weiss, pushing her away from the building rock slide and onto a stable slope within the envelope of safety.

By using wind to save his partner, the acting momentum pushed him deeper down into the cavern. Soon the falling rocks blocked his vision and all he could hear was the panicked voice of his partner screaming into the dark abyss.

"Jaune!"

The collapse had sent him tumbling together with a rock slide, getting trapped deeper within the cave's infrastructure. The light of the torch couldn't reach this far down and left him stumbling in the darkness. Finally, the rolling came to a stop when he quickly skidded to his feet and gust forward by using the momentum of his rolls. The waving of his hands in a crude circle allowed him to land on the impossible to see floor, away from the endgame collision of the rock avalanche, relative fine. He still lacked control, obviously, but at least no one saw him wave his arms around like a lunatic.

Small miracles aside, he carefully peered around upon landing, seeing nothing but darkness both up and down. Rocks covered the surface. The remaining amount of his Wind Dust was teetering. Fear almost gripped his heart, but then he saw it at the end of the dark chasm, a hefty glow of yellow in the off distance. Fortune smiled upon him. An Earth Dust shard greeted him, taller and wider than any Dust he had ever bared witness to. Now, he just had to reach it.

See? He knew caves had Dust.

Carefully walking forward, he took a cautious step toward the shard, being the very definition of Twinkle Toes. Such an odd enigma, it was a strange sensation to see a glow that didn't brighten a room. Neither did it push away the darkness or greet him with a safe passageway, but he saw it mingle with the darkness nonetheless.

The trek there took far longer than he liked with his feet beet bumping into rocks. Every second in never-ending darkness made his nerves tingle in fright, but this source of Earth Dust should fix that problem. Some quick earth-bending and he'd be out of this mess in no time. And the size of that Dust could potentially supply him with a finite supply until he figured out a better system to acquire more.

Glad to find the bright light at the end of this forsaken tunnel, he reached the Dust shard, just now realizing how truly massive it was when standing directly in front of it. Machines would be needed to remove this shard from the earth itself. It went past his shoulders in width and towered over his body by at least double, perhaps more with what was buried underneath the bedrock.

What a magnificent shard of Dust. He'd only seen pictures of ones resembling this size in Dust catalogs. Even then Dust of this size was a rarity to be treasured.

A hand raised to gently touch the enormous Dust shard embedded within the earth. The mystifying glow called to him, beckoned for his reach, like a hunger that never-ended. He had no idea if it was possible to absorb such a large quantity all at once, but even if it proved impossible; he simply would absorb some and create Dust shards until he drained it completely.

The process would be draining, but well worth it.

The moment he rested his entire palm flat on the Dust, his eyes brightly glowed in white and suddenly his conscious was whisked away in a realm of rainbows.

One moment he was trapped in a cave, surrounded by bedrock that restricted the air dancing in his hair, and the next he found his body floating in an endless horizon of Dust crystals of all sizes and shapes. He tried to move, absorb any of the Dust, or reach something relating to a floor, but none of that happened. He only helplessly floated in the air, dangling in a circle that slowly went clockwise.

"What the? What the heck is going on? Where am I? And why can't I stop floating?"

A giggle echoed throughout the horizon and he found his body flipped around by an invisible force. The new person in front of him, sitting on what appeared to be a chair made out of an assortment of Dust, looked positively radiant. A literal rainbow of color splashed behind her person, shining in beauty. Best of all, the image didn't hurt to look at.

Not onto the woman herself.

If Jaune thought Weiss had pale skin, then this woman almost resembled that of a ghost, but she appeared far from Death or sickness. No makeup covered her glowing skin, unnecessary on such beauty with her soft cheekbones and plump lips. Her beauty was only enhanced by her one opened eye, white in the iris, but contrasted deeply with a thick black of limbus and pupil resembling a black hole. Why the other remained closed, he hadn't the foggiest of ideas.

Looking past such nonsense, his vision traveled up her flowing, black dress that started from her collarbone and ended at the edge of her ankles, revealing bare feet. But what made everything complete was her hair. Snowy white in appearance, the tips were colored in a rainbow of colors and failed to have any knots.

This woman was the personification of beauty, and she knew this quite well with her teasing giggle and equally amused smile. When she spoke, her voice vibrated the air like a gentle lullaby.

"I wonder when we would meet. Three sunrises wasn't too long, but it's rude to keep someone waiting, Jaune Arc."

Jaune regained his senses and tried to move back. He found the action impossible and raised his hands up in defense. "Who are you? How do you know my name?"

Her merciless giggle was cruel in nature and she waggled one slender finger forward, instantly pulling him close. He was helpless against the invisible force, almost like it resembled the effects of Gravity Dust.

To make matters more humiliating, she spun him a few times before plucking him down onto a rather large Dust shard, grin motherly mean.

"Silly male, I've been watching you for many sunrises and moonrises. From when you were but a small child, to the form you are now. I have seen you grow up and develop."

That revelation hardly quenched the fear growing in his throat. If anything, it only grew. "You're—how'd I get here? What do you want?"

The mysterious woman regarded his questions for all about a few seconds. Then, to only add more amazement to his confusion, she stood and glided across the air, practically walking on it. He barely managed to move, stunned by her presence, wishing for the life of to be able to absorb the nearby Dust to have a weapon.

No such luck.

"I want to know the type of human you are, Jaune Arc..." she stood in front of him, tone curious. "You've interested me since the day you were but a mere child. I observed you take care of a seed that had little life and no hope. You treated it with equal passion as another's life. Why? Humans have hardly shown such compassion to their own kind, but you went beyond such expectations for a mere seed. Why try so hard to fight for a life that couldn't be?"

His fear drowned under her query, suddenly not so prominent at the disregard of his Little Buddy's life. Whoever she was, crazy lady or something else, no one, and he meant _no one_ , talked bad about his precious seed. Whatever fear turned into backbone and he stood up to challenge her, regardless of her knowing the seed's secret.

"Why does it matter to you? And you still haven't told me what this place is."

She smiled and flicked him on the forehead, forcing him back down onto the Dust shard. "I'm the one who gave that tiny seed the gift of life. I bestowed it the power to absorb the fragments you call Dust and Aura in order for it to feed and not perish. I wanted to see how long your compassion would last before you turned your back to it, but you surprised me for a human."

Jaune blinked.

What? What did she just say?

He frowned, totally lost. "I don't understand? Who—what are you? You're not making any sense."

His captor hummed and held out her other palm, revealing a tiny seed in her hand. She slowly closed her one opened eye and the seed in her palm quickly grew and turned into a familiar, Dust-shaped fruit. Before he could even begin asking questions, she brought the fruit close to her mouth and bit down, quietly absorbing the assortment of flavors and Dust-Dust powers into her body. Soon her eye opened up again to reveal the strange iris staring back.

"I'm the one who bestowed you the power of... what was the name you called it? The Dust-Dust Fruit?" she shook her head in delight. "Quite a presumptuous name for such a tiny fruit, but one befitting, I suppose."

She silently held out her hand and produced another seed, dropping it into Jaune's frozen hand. The Arc quietly closed his palm, instantly recognizing his Little Buddy after all these years. Recognition flashed across his face, throwing his entire balance out of whack.

He found his throat drying. "You created the Dust-Dust Fruit? You're the reason it even grew. It was all you?" He looked around the Dust Dimension. A frown quickly grew. "You said I surprised you?"

Glad for the subject change, she called upon her throne of Dust and sat down with elegant grace. "That is correct. I had wished to speak to the human with great compassion. I wanted to know what drove you to fight so hard for a dying light. Humans are known to be less kind to their own offspring. Why show such sympathy and kindness to one less fortunate. Why for a seed? Tell me."

He momentarily forgot the whole craziness of it all and played her game. "Because I promised on the Arc word that I would give it my all and never give up, and an Arc never goes back on their promise."

"The Arc word?" she adopted a thoughtful expression. "Is the Arc word the same as the arc a rainbow makes after a rainstorm, or are they different concepts created by humans?"

He chose his words carefully. "If you're talking about how a rainbow always shows up after a rainstorm, then yes. You can always expect a rainbow after a rainstorm, like how you can always expect an Arc to keep their word. That'll never change."

Apparently, she wanted to hear that, because she was tapping his palm with a finger, making the seed in his hand grow into his Little Buddy once more. Her eye closed and she pressed the fruit into his chest, skin pleasantly warm to the touch.

"Please, eat the Dust-Dust Fruit and regain the power once more."

Jaune held the fruit protectively, but acted hesitant, memory painfully clear about the incident prior. There had to be a catch. No one just gave out free power for nothing. "So, I can be turned into a walking Dust shard again and have my Aura eaten?"

It was the first time she frowned. It had no business being there. "You are clearly mistaken, human. The fruit won't turn you into Dust. I didn't intend for the fruit to change your soul as such."

His heart skipped a beat.

"Then... then what did you mean for it to do?" Her smile returned and she tapped the fruit once. "The fruit? What? Was the Dust-Dust Fruit supposed to turn me into a fruit?"

"Not a fruit, but you're very close."

Suddenly it hit him like a ton of bricks. "Y-You turned me into a plant!"

Her smile was more than enough, and Jaune Arc panicked, mind running a mile a minute. The Dust-Dust Fruit—his Little Buddy for Oum's sake—had transformed and restructured his body, not as a walking Dust shard, but a moving plant? Had he been a plant all this time?

Head-turning, he gripped his hair in a vice-grip, utterly confused, but mostly astounded. Now, it all made perfect sense, the eating of his Aura, the consumption of Dust, it all factored into the typical process of exothermic and endothermic reactions that plants behaved by.

Where one process absorbed energy, the other released it. Sounded suspiciously like his Dust-Dust powers, but the two processes were far more complicated than that. An Endothermic Reaction by the Dust-Dust Fruit, if Jaune theorized correctly, pertained to the notion that instead of absorbing sunlight, it absorbed the properties of Dust. That solved the question how he could absorb Dust from merely touching it to being near the substance.

The other half of the equation came from the Exothermic Reaction.

While not applying necessarily to the mechanics, for every action there was an equal and opposite reaction, and the Exothermic Reaction released the stored Dust as either a product, such as new Dust, or energy, the power to fight with said Dust.

Combined into one and that was Photosynthesis at its core.

All things considered, Jaune might be a self-certified Dust expert, but he had acquired his fair share of plant knowledge during his youth. The seed had needed more than just Dust at the time. While he lacked anything resembling a green thumb, thank Monty he never turned into a farmer, he still had the know-how when it came to plants. He was no botanist, but he wasn't a fool.

Those reactions clearly explained why he retained the ability to create Dust crystals out of Dust stored in his body. He really was a walking plant. A plant that had grown accustomed to eating Dust and Aura as an outside source of food when sunlight and carbon dioxide proved out-of-reach. Back to that organic matter, he fussed over earlier, he now knew his Aura acted as the organic material to sustain life.

Breaking it down, plants, like all organisms, change and adapt to their environment. His Little Buddy had learned to devour Aura and Dust for nourishment in order to survive. When one wasn't present, the other was.

Jaune gripped the Dust-Dust Fruit tightly, finally figuring out the secrets behind the mysterious fruit. Truth be told, when he considered the heavy implications behind the knowledge, he didn't know what to say or act. Did this woman really want him to devour the fruit again? Why would he risk his life for a power that could essentially consume him whole?

He could potentially wither away and die.

An even greater question, why did this being want him to consume the fruit again? Such power couldn't be easy to part with.

The mysterious woman sensed his reluctance and sighed with a heavy soul. "If you must know, a long time ago, when mankind was still crawling out of the mud, a female of your species managed to steal some of my power when my guard was dropped, as you probably noticed with one of my eyes remaining closed. Her actions have led to their being an imbalance in the world. Balance that must be restored or the world shall fall apart." The figure tapped Jaune on the nose. "You have been gifted with the other half of the powers she failed to steal."

Jaune narrowed his eyes, holding his Little Buddy close. Now, he needed to ask the question lingering over his head. Needed to know what the purpose of all this was.

"Why have you summoned me here? Why me? If this is your power, then why give me this power?"

She frowned and stood up with an air of contempt. "I find myself in need of a balancer. I've needed one for hundreds of cycles now, but never have found a suitable specimen, until now. Your compassion for life has shown me your worth. You see, I can only exist at the surfaces for what humans call minutes at a time, so it's impossible for me to retrieve my other half. And even if the one who stole my powers should perish, it'll just transfer over to a new host and create more disorder."

"So, you're asking me to reclaim your other half?"

Her head lowered and voice dropped. "Not quite. No creature, human or other, could hold both my powers at the same time. It's impossible. The strain on your soul would be too great. No..." she pouted.

"What I ask of you is to bring order to an unbalanced world when I cannot."

Balance? Order? Other half?

Jaune regarded the Dust-Dust Fruit carefully. "What? What is the power you're giving me exactly? How can the Dust-Dust Fruit bring balance?"

She waved her hand thoughtfully. "The gift you have been given is the half she could not steal... the power to turn energy into life. Fire, Water, Wind, Earth, and Aura are all energies that grant the essence of life. That is the power of that fruit."

He was stunned now. His Dust logic, however impressive, failed to comprehend the situation he was in.

Too much was being thrown at him. He was still trying to figure out where here was, very less the implications of everything revealed. Gifts, powers, life, energy, and balance? A person could only absorb so much. He just had so many questions to ask.

Wait?

What did she mean by hundreds of cycles? Of all things he needed to focus on, he might as well start with the less convoluted. Obviously, cycles were a unit of measurement for time. Now, the question remained was how many cycles did a few hundred equal to in the terms of time?

"Wait? Wait! I'm confused. You said the imbalance has been going on for hundreds of cycles? How long exactly is a hundred cycles to you? I'm willing to listen if we take it one step at a time."

She saw through the ruse but played along. "You humans have a funny way of counting the sunrise and moonrise, but if I was to guess. Hn, perhaps, by your standards, two-thousand years, maybe more. I could never understand what you humans considered the concept of time."

He but all screamed in the endless void. "T-Two thousand years! That long? How? How has this person survived for so long? Nothing can live forever!"

She smiled and tapped the fruit once more. "You are holding the gift to exchange energy for life; she stole the gift to turn life into energy. By stealing others Auras, she has prolonged her own natural lifespan and created an imbalance that has forsaken the world, an imbalance that has plagued the world for thousands of cycles."

Jaune threw his hands out and stood up, entirely lost. "Wait a second here? Two-thousand years? Not to call you a liar, but I think humanity would've noticed an imbalance after so long."

"You have. The creatures you call the Grimm are the imbalance."

He frowned and gripped a hard fist. "The Grimm? Those soulless monsters are the imbalance?"

She immediately glared and all the surrounding Dust glowed in fury alongside her. Jaune had to sit back down when an invisible force pressed against his shoulder. This woman—this power—far outstretched his own, and she a made a show of it by toying with his Aura. Pure, underlying hatred stretched across her gentle face, turning light into darkness in the realm of Dust.

"You called them soulless. Why do you think that is, human? Do you think a creature of mine comes into this world without a soul? Do you think there are ones undeserving of a soul, or maybe there's a great reason? Maybe it's because the witch has used my power to rob them of their souls and convert it into raw energy. Perhaps that is why she's lived for countless centuries and thrown the world into chaos?"

He had no comeback, nothing to add or argue against. How could he retaliate with her fury unparalleled and voice a constant echo in this Dust Dimension? What she said, what it meant, threw his entire world for a spin. If what this woman said was true, and his instincts made a point of believing her, then the Arc's throat suddenly closed up and dried.

The Dust-Dust Fruit turned the one who ate it into a plant. By that logic—and all the plant knowledge he acquired since he was but a child—the power stolen turned the other person into a plant. To absorb energy and give it back as life was the prime definition of Photosynthesis. To absorb life and turn it into energy, by plant terms, was the prime definition of Respiration. His fruit absorbed elements and gave it back as energy and supposedly Aura. The other fruit stole this life and turned that Aura into their own.

Aura was the manifestation of the soul.

Someone managed to rob _Aura_ and turn into raw energy that not only prolonged their life but created the Grimm. They stole souls! Someone like that actually existed? Someone this mysterious woman before him dubbed a witch?

Such a belief chilled his bones to the core.

"Who was it?" Jaune breathed, hugging his Little Buddy tight with fear gripping his soul. "Who was it that stole your power?"

She frowned and sighed for the first time in countless cycles. "Even I do not know her original name, only the one she's given for herself, Salem Trial."

Salem Trial?

What a name. Alone it sounded elegant, malevolent, and demanded respect. It rolled off the tongue so effortlessly and left a bitter taste doing so. The very mention of it brought fear to his soul. It clung to him, like a lifeline and she existed with the power to steal it. A person existed with the power to steal souls and create the Grimm!

Suddenly, the world stopped spinning and came to a blinding halt. Whatever madness he was going through was moot. Someone had the power to steal souls. If that was true, and he didn't know whether to believe this woman yet, then, as an Arc, there was only one obvious solution.

"I'll do it." Jaune suddenly roared, Arc pride shining that rainbow bridge of hope. "I'll help you restore balance to the world. Just tell me where Salem is now and I'll go defeat her."

 _Smack_!

She whacked him on the dome, tone deliberate to berate a child. "Do you wish to die? I'm pleased that you decided to aid me, but you cannot simply go and fight Salem as you are. She has countless moon and sun cycles beyond you. She'll destroy you. Before you attempt something idiotic, you must master the four Prime Elements before you even _think_ about attempting such a feat, foolish human." Before he could ask how what a Prime Element was, she waved her hand and summoned four shards of Dust, all colored after the four basic elements. "Between all the elements that exist, four prime control the others. You know them as Fire, Earth, Wind, and Water. Other elements are too destructive to exist together, except for the four that bring perfect harmony to nature and give the essence of life. Together they grant your half's immeasurable strength."

Jaune rubbed his head, body stinging from the surprisingly hard hit. "And how exactly am I going to do that? What? Do you expect me to absorb a bunch of Dust and practice?"

She separated the four Dust shards and shook her head. "No, you'll never master their control like that. There exist four beings named Maidens out there that have mastery over a single element. You must seek them out and train under their wing. Only after you master the four Prime Elements, would you be powerful enough to challenge Salem."

He had so many questions. "Where can I find these Maidens? Are they close?"

"Even I do not know their location. It would be up to you to find them." She frowned and placed a tender hand on his chest. "Knowing this path, I now ask you, do you still wish to continue? I will not blame you for being scared."

Good, because he was beyond terrified. Who could blame him? The fate of the world's balance hung in his hands with a practically immortal monster with the ability to create Grimm to contend against? Excuse him if his soul felt crushed under the responsibility offered to him. Being scared barely covered the emotions he felt.

Still, frightened or not, someone was asking him for help. His mother taught him the meaning of responsibility. His father showed him what it took to be a leader with power and focus. The Arc word allowed him to become that rainbow bridge between right and wrong. Above all else, Salem Trial needed to be stopped!

Balance needed to be restored.

Jaune Arc would become that rainbow this mysterious woman expected to see after the rainstorm and dark clouds.

He smiled and she smiled along. "Of course I'm scared, but if you think I'm going to run away from this, then you don't know us humans that well."

The glowing woman stopped Jaune before he could consume the fruit. "Be warned, as long as you retain the power to control Dust, your Aura will act as a hindrance and your Semblance will not reach you. You can only give Aura, not use it. Never use it."

He regarded the warning for all about two seconds, before chopping down onto the nasty tasting fruit, almost gagging right then and there. More important things mattered than his health, like combating Salem's powers with the gift given to him.

The half he had blessed with was the power to absorb energy and give it back as life—the power of Photosynthesis.

The half Salem Trial had cursed the world with was the power to absorb energy and take life away—the power of Respiration.

The woman laughed at the way he choked on the foul fruit, silently glad her taste-buds adapted to all tastes, but she found her fun coming to an end. The connection between this realm and his was teetering.

Their time together was coming to a sad end.

"I'm afraid our time together has reached its limits. So I ask of you, Jaune Arc, to help bring balance to a world in need. I ask you to become the first Paragon."

Jaune paused with his rainbow stained teeth showing. He felt what she meant. It was like an invisible force was pulling him away, but before he went back; he needed to ask the biggest question of all. The Paragon thing could wait until later. He doubted this was going to be the last time they spoke.

"If I'm going to do this, then I need to know before I go. Who are you—what are you?"

Her silhouette slowly faded into the background with all the floating Dust, along with the entire dimension. Nonetheless, her perfect voice echoed just loud enough for him to hear.

"I go by many names, human. I have many forms. I am all. And I am one. But I come to you in a human body with the name humanity has given me."

"And what name is that?"

All the surrounding Dust glowed in a rainbow of color, brighter than any of the glows back at Beacon. Her figure was illuminated by the pure light with a smile fit to end wars.

"Mother Nature."

* * *

 **Author Notes:** The true summary of the story.

 **True Summary** \- Discovering the truth of the Dust-Dust fruit, Jaune Arc was summoned by Mother Nature to help bring balance to Remnant. Four Maidens existed that could teach him the fundamentals of the four prime elements—Fire, Earth, Wind, and Water—but he had to find them first. Gifted with the help of true friends, Arc pride, Dust, and Snow Angel, he adventured out to become the first Paragon.

Now it's time for the real story to begin, everything else was just build-up, seventy-thousand words of build-up, and before I go, allow me to quickly break down Jaune Arc and Salem Trial's respective powers for you so it's clear.

 **Jaune Arc – Dust-Dust Fruit – Photosynthesis** – Power to absorb energy and give life

 **Salem Trial – Forbidden Fruit – Respiration** – Power to absorb life and turn it into energy

 **Beta-Reader:** Mallobaude

 **Author Notes:** ( **Mallobaude** ): Since I was the beta for this chapter, Yoshi has demanded that I include a note. So, uh, I guess I'll self-promote and ask you to read my stuff, if you want.


	8. Bone

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing of RWBY.

* * *

 **Bone**

 **By: Imyoshi**

Darkness.

Jaune Arc absently blinked his eyes, adjusting to the sudden absence of light.

From a space of shine and rainbows to a cavern of blight. Such a transition left a strain on the eyes. The glow of the Earth Dust was gone, and his hand remained fixed on the powerless crystal. Upon glancing down, he found the hue of brown encompassing his entire body. More than any shard of Dust ever had.

Such an oddity to witness a glow that offered zero illumination in a darkened cave.

He doubted he'd ever get used to it.

Shaking his head, he shoved bits of dirt off his sleeve and turned toward the direction he originally came. "Crazy life-changing moments aside, I need to get out of here. Lucky for me, I got Earth Dust to help! And plenty of it. Now, how does this type of Dust work again? Oh? Right!"

Powerful and dense body placements.

Frowning, he carefully removed his hand away from the massive Dust shard and stepped slowly on the floor, checking for any cutting rocks or imbalanced ledges. Upon the first step, his body froze, senses tingling like goosebumps. The entire cave system revealed itself for a few seconds, like an intricate system of contour lines, before disappearing again to total darkness.

"Okay. That was just weird. How'd that happen?" Testing another step, albeit softer, the cave this time did not reveal itself on the second step. "So soft is a no-go? A fluke? Maybe? Let's see. Harder this time."

Narrowing his eyes, he tried again, adding a more stubborn push to his foot, and found the process from before revealing the cave. He repeated the gentler approach, observing the same results from before. Then came a denser step and the cave's internal workings burst to life again. Hard, yes. Soft, no.

Yup! Just like Ren said. Different elements meant different hand and foot placements. Earth Dust required pressure-filled movements. Fire, water, and wind did not need a dominant force, but the straightforward direction of thrown body movements, the ripple effects of arc swings, and constant freedom of space. Earth didn't budge from such tactics as those. If there was ever a time to practice earthbending, it was now. Not like he had much choice.

Breathing in, he exhaled and moved with straining steps.

The act of walking with a tremendous escalation of Earth Dust was an odd one. Small vibrations flickered away from his the balls of feet, alive with each stimulating step. Impossible to ignore. Felt like seismology, oscillations created by naturally occurring processes such as earthquakes, but that wasn't entirely accurate. Not when the Earth Dust in his body aided the ability, consequently blurring the line of naturally occurring and man-made.

Either way, the vibrations traveled in what he concluded P-Waves and S-Waves. One moved faster than the other, parallel to his steps. An ability he vaguely recalled the first time he used Earth Dust against the moth Grimm, but hardly noticed at the time. Now, in the pitch-darkness of the cave, regarding the vibrations was impracticable to ignore. It was as if each step layered out the blueprint of the cave's infrastructure.

Similar to sight.

Sadly, each step drained away the Earth Dust in his body, diminishing the effect. Not to mention it all came naturally, so Jaune didn't know how to turn it off or on. While not particularly threatening since he absorbed a tremendous supply of Dust, it still gnawed away at the back of his skull. Whatever ability it was, questioning it now would prove wasteful.

He needed to escape this hellhole.

Retracing his steps back, the Dust Nerd found the rockpile from the slide, kneeling down to touch the mismatched pebbles and cobbles. The grime smothered against his dirt-layered skin. An odd feeling, being filthy that was. He didn't seem to mind it that much. Perhaps because the Earth Dust erased such feelings? Wouldn't be unimaginable considering Dust affected both his physical and emotional state.

Being one with dirt, while covered in grime, made sense in the obscurest of ways.

Tossing the rock over his shoulder, the Arc groaned and figured the only way out was to climb and create an opening at the top. He wasn't confident enough to earth bend a makeshift staircase with his lackluster control, might waste too much Earth Dust.

No.

Climbing up the slope was the better of the two options. One wrong move earthbending in this cavern and the whole cave complex might come crashing down from pushing past the shear-failure envelope. The brittle-component of the surrounding bedrock wasn't something he wished to test. Especially not after an earthquake just happened, but the Arc had a sneaking suspicion that Mother Nature might've caused such a seismic event.

Sighing, he dug his hands and then feet into the rocks, slipping marginally on sediments, before climbing up in a somewhat brisk pace upward in the darkness. Must be the Earth Dust making the rock climbing easier. Possibly? Didn't matter, his Dust logic pointed to yes. Memory only helped support his claim since he once walked through fire without getting burned because of the influence of Fire Dust or how he felt one with water in the rain.

The climb after a few minutes came to an abrupt stop when boulders prevented him from advancing any further. From purely guessing, he figured to be near the top from where the cavern had opened and swallowed him whole. With little options left, he grumbled and tried to push the boulders away, finding the actions a wasted one. A few more wasteful attempts later and Jaune huffed, digging his legs painfully into the slope's sediments with his arms bunched toward his sides.

Whelp! All or nothing now!

"I did need to practice, anyway."

Throwing his hands up, he recalled past actions and heaved his arms down with his muscles straining.

...

Weiss Schnee felt a migraine building.

Out of the nursing station and straight into a chasm, her partner certainly preferred to spice up any sense of normalcy. Like being a walking Dust mine wasn't enough! Now she was stuck at a crossroad. Either run out and fetch her team for help or wait and see what happened next. At least she had a rock to sit on, torch for light, and training in persistence. Impractical, sure, but had little choice in the matter.

She expertly maintained a composed internal panic, flaunting only an impatient tapping of her foot. Guilt ate away at her.

"This is all my fault... I should've ordered him back to the dorm room. He could've used some of my Dust until our team knew. He just got better. Of course, he was delirious!"

 _Grumble_! _Crack_! _Snap_! _Pop_!

Blinking, the Dust Heiress looked down to find cracks forming on the floor where the boulders remained. The stones themselves trembled, quivering with what she thought to be an aftershock. She quickly stepped back when the earth beneath her feet split in two. Rocks moved, the cave shook, but didn't crumble underneath the intense shaking. When a mop of dirt covered sunny hair popped out the darkness of the crevice, she sighed a breath of relief. Out crawled out Jaune, digging his arms and legs into the gravel with powerful strikes to balance his body from sliding down. An intense and glaring frown contorted his features, stubborn like a rock with his body shaking.

She _humphed_ , almost smirking.

What a relief. The jerk must've stumbled upon some Earth Dust during the landslide? Bits of dirt were attached to the ends of his locks and cheeks. First, he fell into a dark chasm looking for life-giving Dust, only to crawl out with said Dust. Leave it to her partner to have atrocious luck. Still made for an amusing experience, greatly surpassing what she expected when attending Beacon Academy, but that hardly meant this whole ordeal didn't make her blood boil.

Crawling, he tried to stand up, finding the highest amount of loose sediment resting where he earth bent. Jaune suddenly stumbled, almost losing his balance on the last step and Weiss gripped his hoodie before that could happen, pulling him roughly away from the slope with more strength than he thought her lithe body possessed.

The toss finished with him smacking his body on the ground with a roll that ended up with him on his back, body splayed and eyes shut. Groaning, the Arc opened his eyes to stare up at the famous Schnee family pout and fierce, piercing eyes, all illuminated by a burning torch. The fire contrasted nicely with her pale features.

He snickered with a cheeky grin. "Worried about me."

 _Humph_! "Don't be ridiculous. Now get up."

The snickering persisted, but he hefted himself right up, brushing some dirt off his pants. Thank Oum he finally managed to climb himself out of there, or for the fact, the cave didn't collapse on top of him for removing weight. Small miracles.

Standing up, he met her glare, not phased by its intensity. Compared to her, his dirt-covered body contrasted evenly with her pristine outfit. He beamed at the thought. Earth Dust sure erased the need to be clean and proper. Still, he wiped away some more dirt to lower the temperature in the room.

"Sorry for keeping you waiting for so long. How long was I stuck down there, anyway?"

Weiss tilted her head, glaring. Waiting? "Did you hit your head on the way down? You were only down there for a few minutes?"

He stopped rubbing the dirt off his clothes to loosely glare up and blink at his partner. What? A few minutes? Hardly any time had passed upon touching the Dust shard and communicating with Mother Nature? No. No! That made little sense. That conversation lasted far longer than a few minutes. The climb back up itself was a few minutes.

"Only a few minutes? There's no way that's right. It felt so much longer."

Her frown said otherwise.

Time distortion? Manipulation? Both? Must've been Mother Nature's doing. Not like scientific reasoning had a place to argue. Anything and everything science-y might as well be fabrication when it came to that deity. For Dust's sake, his Little Buddy defied reason for just existing! Logic, thy name was Insanity. However, he grew up studying the internal structure of the planet's core and how Dust formed. Science, Dust-based science, coursed through his blood!

Eh? Not blood. Chlorophyll, right? He was a plant, after all. Needed that stuff for photosynthesis, although he wasn't green per se, both then? Maybe? Gah! Whatever! It didn't matter!

"What?"

He shook his head. "Never mind, let's go back to our dorm. Something important has come up. And I would rather not be stuck in this cave anymore."

"Hey! Stop! What about needing Dust?"

"It can wait."

She disagreed by shoving her finger into his shoulder. "No. It can't. In case you've forgotten, you just got out of the nursing station. For having a lack of Dust, I might add!"

He sighed, didn't she think he knew that? He desired nothing more than to explore and excavate more Dust, but Father Time waited for no creature. To prove a point, he held out his hand and concentrated on the tug, feeling his skin drying up almost instantly with bits of dirt getting trapped between the crevice of his dried up skin and underneath his fingernails.

"Trust me... this will last me a while. And I still have some spares left."

Spares put it mildly.

Weiss hummed. Fire, ice, and gravity? Three other Dust shards did not make for a perfect compromise. All this work for only one piece of Dust? Not an ideal situation, but he appeared stubborn to a fault, immune to her poking. Must be the power of Earth Dust? How dare he be resistant to her poking!

Nonetheless, he appeared adamant. "Very well, I've had my fill of this forest anyway. Let's retire to the dorm."

He grunted and moved past her, slow compared to when he happened to be hyped up on Wind Dust. Jaune Arc energized by Earth Dust reflected a complete one-eighty to Wind Dust. She wasn't sure yet which she preferred. This headstrong dolt or the youthful free spirit? As of now, between the choices of Dust personalities she came to know, she craved the Ice King.

Eh? A shiver ran up her spine from just thinking that. No doubt that emotionless jerk had something to do with that. Probably still furious over her strategic stalemate in battle. Cheater? Her? Preposterous! Not on his life.

Once they made it out the cave and onto fresh grass, she sighed in relief. After the sudden earthquake that almost caved them in a tomb of limestone and dolomite, the idea of being in that enclosed space any longer churned her stomach violently. One life-threatening situation was enough for one day. Besides her, Jaune paused. Once outside, he stopped walking to test his footing on the crisp grass. Hn, now that he could see his seismic sight vanished, useful.

The rest walk back was quiet. Neither spoke, tired from a long day of fighting and hunting. Fortune smiled down upon them and spared them the threat of any other Grimm attacks during their trek home. Weiss only wanted a hot shower with her partner focused entirely on his feet, lips chewed. Whatever plagued his mind, besides the being eaten alive by his Aura issue, she knew he'd spill as soon as they returned to their team, after Yang tore him a new one for fighting Grimm in his current state, of course.

Was she a cruel partner to be looking forward to that?

Smirking, she glanced down once her heels hit cobblestone. Finally! Beacon Academy! Had it always been this far from Emerald Forest? Someone should fix that. Maybe add in a conveyor belt? No! Two conveyor belts! Yes. At the very least she allowed herself to drop her guard, releasing strangled a breath she carried since walking out the cave. Her partner even mimicked her, sighing loudly into the crisp air.

"Hey, thanks for coming out with me. If it wasn't for you, I don't know if I could've beaten that monkey Grimm back there."

She frowned. Simple gratitude. Nothing new, but still found it odd.

The Heiress stopped, crossing her arms with that silver tongue of hers ready to belittle his forgetfulness. "Did you forget, we're partners, what else would I have done? I'm making an effort to be a better person, allowing my partner to die would be taking two steps back from that goal."

He grinned. "Partners or not, you didn't have to. We've only known each other a few days, but it's nice to know you have my back."

Weiss didn't allow for her emotions to escape, she, however, couldn't say the same for Jaune. For a blockhead, the pain filtering in his eyes spoke louder than any words. Somehow she related. The Dust Duchess hardly knew of anyone she could honestly say would have her back. Outside of her older sister, the Schnee family spaced themselves apart from any acts melodrama, including family-oriented. It was a lucrative business first and family-oriented second household in the Schnee manor. Which brought up the question to why Jaune would be surprised from something so mundane as human affection? She made sense. Her partner did not.

What? A lack of friends in combat school? A laughable notion for a dork like him, those personalities attracted an abundance of support, even if only from other noodles. Who ever heard of one noodle? Then again, a dork or not, this walking Dust shard did score a perfect on the regional Dust exams and essentially killed the curve. The number of applicants applying for a Huntsmen Academy had hit an all-record low this year. All because of this dolt right here.

For him to achieve such a score, well, not even Weiss Schnee studied that much. She scored high, naturally, just not noodle high. Now that she pondered over it, he probably had very little human interaction outside of his family. Maybe he _did_ lack friends when attending combat school? Studying fervorously killed any social interaction. That perfect score surely wiped any chance after that.

With that idea cemented Weiss snorted with a smirk. "For now, but don't expect me to offer you any assistance when it comes to Yang. You know she's going to be furious with you."

He waved off the pressure like a stubborn rock. "I can handle anything Yang can dish out."

Weiss merely raised a brow and resumed her walk to the dorms with anticipation building between each step.

...

The Schnee bit back a chuckle.

Wave off an ominous warning? No pressure. Come face-to-face with the said warning, and suddenly he took the path of least resistance and grinned harmlessly at the red-eyed brawler. Not even Blake offered to opt this one out, glaring over the edge of her book with Mr. Squeakers gripped tightly between the pages.

"The infirmary called and said you checked yourself out early, Jaune?" Yang smiled too widely. "But the funny thing is you never came back to the room, and you're covered in filth. Don't think I don't see the ripped marks on your hoodie. So? I'm only going to ask nicely once. Where'd you go?"

 _Tick-tock_.

Jaune turned to Weiss. "I thought you weren't going to message them?"

Weiss shrugged. "I didn't. The doctor must've?"

He frowned. Damn that Doctor Constable. Doctor-Patient confidentiality must've meant shout it to the world. He regretted not asking for plastic now.

Turning back to the glaring Yang, he expected maybe a hearty slap to the back for recovering, but all he received was a mean fist to the arm. Then she threw a second fist at the same spot, followed by a third and fourth until he had the foresight to move away.

"Ow, that's my swinging arm. I need it to swing and junk. You might've bruised it." Jaune rubbed his sore muscle, pouting. "You hit hard. I'm gonna have to get the doc to examine it."

"You'll be needing your head examined after I'm through with you!" Yang wrapped an arm around his head, pulling him tight. "What were you thinking? What kind of moron just runs into a Grimm-infested forest after they _just_ got better? Well? Hello! I'm asking you a question!"

"Okay! Okay! I give! You were right, and I was wrong! We all make mistakes. It won't happen again." Jaune turned to Weiss when Yang refused to let go. "Hey, partner, help me out here."

Weiss flipped her hair at the headlock Yang had Jaune in. "I tried to stop him, but he was determined to leave. He's been acting like a blockhead."

"Oh? A blockhead?" Yang smirked, squeezing tight. "Maybe I need to beat some sense into him then?"

He bit lip but simpered upon noticing the dirt on his nose. Smirking, he wrapped a heavy hand around Yang's neck and began violently spinning his head, shooting out a cloud of Dust from his dirtied hair and onto her. Gah! She promptly released him, bouncing away from the veil of dust, but not before bonking him on the noggin.

It felt like hitting a dense rock.

"Ah!" Yang screamed. "You got dirt all over my outfit! And your head's as hard as a rock!"

"There's more where that came from!"

Before any pointless fighting damaged the room, Weiss slapped the idiot on the back of his head, pretending no stinging sensation followed suit on her palm. "Enough fooling around, I believe you have something to tell us?"

That overconfident attitude of his sunk faster than a stone in water, and he brushed her remark with a frustrated sigh. Whatever ate away at him—minus his Aura—drained the life out of him. He appeared to age a few years just by thinking it. To make matters complicated, he reached for the remaining Dust shards in his pocket and played with them, mute.

A distraction presumably meant to buy time until he figured out the right choice words he wanted to say. This unusual silence coming from her partner unnerved her. Was there more to this whole Aura eating away at his humanity shtick? Not exactly a comforting thought, but at least it marginally explained his reluctance. Maybe he wanted to reveal the truth—the entire truth—with the whole team around?

She secretly hoped that wasn't the case.

 _Snicker_!

Three sets of eyes blinked upon hearing him chuckle. It soon turned into full-blown laughter with the person in question clutching his stomach in a river of emotion. He soon reached out randomly for a bedpost, using it as a support beam as his sense of balance abandoned him in his fit of insanity, and before any could comfort and gauge the situation, those laughs died down back to chortles before turning into silence. In its place remained a dirt covered man who hadn't a clue.

He moved away from the bedpost, feet staggering on the carpet, and the Arc looked anywhere but them, eyes light and smile straining. Now that he sincerely thought about the situation, one-hundred percent wrapped his head around it, why wouldn't it sound completely insane?

Welcome to Beacon Academy.

He dropped the smile and breathed, arms hung to his sides. "I must be going crazy. First I grew my Little Buddy, turned into it and now this? Yeah, check one for bonkers Arc."

Blake glared suspiciously. "Jaune? What in the world is going on? What was all that laughing about?"

Soot covered cheeks looked to her. "I'll tell you. I'll tell all you. Because keeping this a secret will tear me apart and be infinity times harder than not keeping it a secret. Besides, we're a team. You deserve to know what your crazy leader's up to."

"Okay..." Yang trailed slowly. "So what's this major secret you've kept from us?"

"I'm a plant."

All three paused. "What?"

He shrugged and pinched the ends of his clay painted locks. The sheepish grin and exhausted laugh made it difficult to take him even remotely seriously, but instead of chuckling a second time, he told them everything. The encounter with Mother Nature. The Dust-Dust Fruit's obscure origins. Salem, the Grimm, being the first Paragon. Everything! Jaune Arc told them everything, not leaving a single detail out or stone unturned.

Based on the way all three of them remained doubtfully quiet, he slumped. "You don't believe me."

Not like he blamed them. He wouldn't believe himself either if he wasn't a walking contradiction. For Oum's sake, he was walking, talking plant! A plant! The thing that grew out of the soil filled with bugs and dirt. Cow food! That thing!

Yang snorted instantly. "Could you blame us? It's a lot to take in. I mean Mother Nature? Balance? Dust-Dust Powers? Not exactly something they prep you on at combat school unless I missed that lesson. I don't even know if I believe you yet."

He lamented. Leave it to Yang to break the tension. "Look, I know this is hard to believe. Trust me, I do. Heck, even I wouldn't believe it if it wasn't for this."

He held up his palm and added Aura, creating a shard of Earth Dust in his hand. Bits of dirt fell off the tips of his hair, and his skin rejuvenated from the dryness dissipating. Along with the soil, his rigid body relaxed, and his feet didn't press themselves so firmly to the ground. Once leveled on his palm, the shard felt extremely heavy, pulling his arm down from the unexpected weight of a highly condensed amount of Earth Dust.

Not the perfect example he needed, but he held the Dust fragment up and dropped it into the first pair of hands brave enough to accept the challenge. Surprisingly Blake wrapped her fingers around the crystal and grumbled upon discovering the weight behind it, and when she leveled the shard on her palm, a sense of reflection filtered through her eyes, like she had experience with quantities and qualities of Dust shards, regarding her leader with a tight lip frown.

Blake had held many shards of Earth Dust in her natural life, a secret she kept locked away, and not a single one came close to this one's weight. All paled in comparison. In all things exhibiting the natural order, this piece of Dust shouldn't exist. Too much substance. Too small. Above all else, man-made.

Her eyes reflected nothing but curiosity. "Mother Nature, huh?"

Yang snatched the Dust shard out of Blake's hands, curious. Upon discovering the unique weight for something so puny, gears started to turn. Her thoughts drifted back to the time he used his Dust abilities against Grimm alike. His control over the power hadn't been the greatest, and now she understood why.

She threw the Dust back. "So? I'm not saying I believe you, but I'm not saying I don't, but if do, which I'm not saying I do, then that means it's not your Semblance, right? You know, the Dust control. This is all that, what'd you call it, the Dust-Dust Fruit's fault?"

Jaune laughed weakly, catching the shard. "Ha. Yeah. With the way my Dust-Dust powers is eating away at my Aura, I can't have a Semblance. My Aura doesn't even heal my injuries. Sorry for lying about that. I wasn't even sure until I spoke to Mother Nature herself."

Mother Nature, another topic that screwed with their heads. To think someone like that existed. Who watched humanity crawl out of the mud. To think someone like Salem breathed, a person with the ability to steal life and turn it into energy. Create Grimm! Such an idea almost sounded too ridiculous to believe, but he acted so serious about it. Plus with the whole Aura eating away at his body thing, lying would prove unbeneficial. Their Dust Leader needed to be upfront about it. That much they knew.

If this was going to be the case, that only left one viable choice.

"Whelp! That settles it! Good thing you're a terrible liar! I'm game!" Yang yelled, slamming her fists together. When her teammates stared at her, she shrugged. "What? Isn't that why we came to this school in the first place? To kick Grimm butt? I can't think of any better way than showing this Salem person who's boss!"

Yang's simplistic, to-the-point answer had an undeniable point. While not all people turned to a life of Huntsmen for either fame or fortune, all Huntsmen, in their primary core, became Huntsmen to kick Grimm butt. Defeating this Salem person, this queen, was the exact definition of Huntsmen.

Both Blake and Weiss regarded the question with indifference. Between the two, Blake frowned, wondering how she got stuck with the worst of luck? What? Did being a cat Faunus entitle her to a life of misery and bad luck? Weiss merely looked down at her heels, unable to curse whatever entity existed.

"Do you think I have any experience working with a group whose sole mission is to bring balance to this forsaken world?" Blake remained quiet for all about four seconds. "Alright, I'm in."

Only Weiss remained the outlier, knowing all eyes were on her. She chewed the bottom of her lips, considering the implications of possibly accepting this mission. Bring balance to the world or die trying? No ifs, ands, or buts about it. The deciding factor came when she looked up and recalled how sick Jaune appeared in that hospital bed. That was all Mother Nature's pesky plant's doing, but he still accepted the mission given to him. If he was willing to put his life on the line for the sake of others, who was she to turn her back on him?

She came to Beacon to help change things for the better.

Weiss huffed, arms crossed defiantly. "While I find it highly illogical to challenge what I would describe as a mythological being, this solution seems viable in saving humanity." Weiss smirked. "I, too, am in."

Yang beamed and pulled them all together for a squishy group hug between the shoulders. "That settles it then! Team ABYS is going to save the world!"

"We're going to bring balance to it." Blake corrected while squished between Yang's biceps.

She waved her hand out. "Pssh! Balance? Save? Same difference!"

Squeezed between Yang's hand and Weiss' shoulder, their leader breathed. The entire exchange left the Arc tongue-tied. Not the whole bring balance to the world part, strangely enough. No. He reflected upon how they so easily pushed all agenda away to do this as a team. That greatly confused him. Trust and team dynamics took longer than three days to forge, right? He honestly hadn't a clue with little experience with friendships.

Jaune made sure they knew this. "Not to be a Ruby downer, but we've only known each other for a few days. How can you girls be fine with this? I'm asking for a lot."

Yang released them all for except him, pulling him closer. "Cause if we don't do this, then who will? Someone's gotta put that witch in her place! Besides, you're the leader! We got to follow you lead us to glory or our doom."

"I still feel like I'm asking for a lot from people I barely know."

"Then it's time we get to know each other!" Yang pushed him away.

"I'm pretty sure I got your names memorized by now?" Jaune said.

"No! Dork! I mean we should really get to know each other." Yang didn't give Jaune a choice, pushing him down by the base of his shoulder. She plopped straight down right after. "I'll go first! The name's Yang Xiao Long. Learn it. Love it. Live it. I'm the best person you're ever going to meet, so be prepared to be thoroughly disappointed with everyone else you meet from now on."

Before he could get a word in, Blake joined him on the floor. Her voice carried some weight. "My name's Blake Belladonna. You may call me Blake. I enjoy literature and hate the oppression that goes on in the world. My mission is to one day bring equality for all people. That is why I joined this school."

"Heavy stuff..." Jaune remarked.

Blake offered a small smile. "Compared to what we're about to embark on, not so much. Bringing balance to the world should make bridging the gap between people easier, this is a blessing in disguise if anything."

Next Weiss joined them, although she grabbed a nearby pillow to sit on. A Schnee did not rest on the dirty floor like some common vagabond. Plus the wood floor was hard, and she felt like she deserved some comfort after following her boneheaded partner into Emerald Forest.

Her tone remained clipped. "Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company. Do not call me Miss Schnee. Weiss is fine. I enjoy organization and order. I dislike anyone who doesn't know how to handle Dust properly. I prefer well-thought-out plans and strategies, and not half-brained ones, especially from people who go past their limits and almost get themselves killed."

"Hey? Was that a jab at me."

Weiss kept her emotions in check but offered a tiny smirk. "Like I said, half-brained."

Before Jaune had the chance to strangle his partner, Yang rubbed her hands together with her Aura showing. "Now that we got all the boring stuff out of the way, it's on to the juicy stuff! So? Anyone here knows how to play truth or—?"

Blake broke up the brain train and zipped her partner's lip shut. "As much as I would love to sit around and talk about stuff, how exactly are we going to travel all across Remnant without drawing attention to ourselves? You did mention these Maiden are somewhere in Remnant but have no clue to their whereabouts. We can't just jump in without a plan."

Her leader frowned. "I don't know, but we'll figure something out. I mean, how hard could they be to find?"

She pursed her lips to that. Finding someone wasn't such a difficult task. Most people left a trail if looked hard enough, unless if they wanted to remain anonymous. Then things got difficult. Trails became muddied. Sources turned misleading. Blake had a feeling these individuals weren't so keen on being tracked.

Cutting her train of thought, her partner bumped their leader on the shoulder. "Uh? Excuse me, Jaune, but where's your sword?"

"What do you mean? It's right—you got to be kidding me. Where'd it—ah! It's still stuck in the tree!" Jaune sighed, got up and headed for the door with a weak wave. "If you ladies will excuse me, I have a sword to get. Don't wait up—!"

"I don't think so!" Yang grabbed his arm and pulled him back in. "Sit your butt down! That quack told us about your appointment tomorrow. You're not going anywhere. Blake and I will get your sword back!"

"Don't rope me into this."

He argued. "But I'm the one who left it behind, so I should be the one to retrieve it."

"Hmm? You make a valid argument. Show of hands, who here thinks Jaune should stay inside?" The girls' hands rose up in the air, and Yang snapped her fingers. "Darn! Whelp! That's how the cookie crumbles, leader. Nothing we can do about it. You're staying put!"

"You don't even know where it is."

"It's near a crater by the eastern edge of Emerald Forest. There's a nearby cave to help you map yourselves."

"Weiss!"

His partner played with her nails, pointing to his bed without any argument. Fire burned in those cold eyes with clear defiance. He tried to escape the room anyway, but Yang predicted such a move and shoved him into the bed. He reattempted. She pushed harder. Soon it was like watching a brawler trying to beat sense into a boulder. Bits of the Earth Dust's properties must've remained from absorbing such a quantity.

He eventually gave up and pouted like a child. "Fine! You win. I'll be stuck waiting here. Have fun exploring in the dark."

Yang waved out the door with her victory grin and waved at her pouting leader. "Don't worry! We will!"

Slam!

Face impassive, his head hit the pillow hard. A sigh escaped him soon after. At least they got his mandatory meeting over with, even if it was a few days late and not during lunch. When his partner said nothing, the leader turned his noggin and found her oddly staring out the window of their room with a deep frown and arms stiffly crossed. He tched, almost biting his tongue. Not that he blamed her. This whole day started bad and ended up worse. Forgetting Crocea Mors was merely icing on the cake.

"Not exactly the adventure you were expecting at Beacon, huh?

She said nothing. Without the other half of their team, the air quickly turned stale. An agreement of ceasefire hung around, screwing up the team dynamics. Courage eventually gripped her, and it lacked direction. By uncrossing her arms, Weiss allowed a breath of her own to escape her lungs. She ultimately turned to him, this close to becoming a sputtering mess.

"Ever since I've stepped foot into this school nothing's been going my way. I was supposed to have the perfect team with the best partner and focus on fixing my family's name. Not—not _this_! All my plans have been thrown out the window! Nothing's going the way it should."

"I'm sorry."

The real world had unprecedented failures. It didn't care about shift changes or meticulous schedule planning. Mistakes happened. Plans fell through. Things changed. From her very first step into this academy to current present had shown her that in more ways than one. Believing things might turn around and get better would be foolish.

Weiss Schnee didn't play the fool. "Don't be. It's what we signed up for, right, to kick Grimm butt?"

He gifted her a beaming grin. "Still, I can't imagine this is how you planned for your stay at Beacon to play out."

She offered him a small smile in return. "No. Not at all. Not even close."

"But..."

She suppressed the grin from growing. "But it's not the worse that could've happened. And I have a pretty decent partner."

He choked. "Decent?"

"Decent. Average. Normal." Weiss scoffed playfully. "A dork. Someone who doesn't know when not to push himself. Straggly. Blond. I'd even label him as a dolt."

"You know, I'm still waiting for that _thank you_."

"And delusional."

He scoffed. "First my partner's a cheater and now this? I've got the meanest partner in the world."

"Very delusional."

He threw a pillow at her. Weiss expected such a barbaric tactic, dodged his and threw her own, hitting him squarely on the face with a fat smack of cotton. Underneath his soft tomb, the Arc grumbled with feathers in his mouth.

"And she picks on the sick."

"Go to bed."

He shoved the pillow away and emptied his pockets of his remaining shards, resting them on top of his drawer. Between the four of them, Fire Dust shined the brightest glow. Ice released a hazy afterglow. Earth or gravity carried little shine but made for it in weight proportions. All in all, having all four next to one another irked him, reminding him of the glow Mother Nature shined. Just thinking about her and the path she set him on burned his blood and forced him to confront the significant problems of the world firsthand. His stomach lazily ached from the reminder, but that might potentially be the lack of Dust in his system.

Like being eaten alive from the inside out of his problems wasn't enough.

He turned to his side and pressed down, hoping to end this day already. Tomorrow was Friday, which meant they still had class. The more sleep he got, the better. Because as much as he wanted to fuss over this topic of world balancing and Dust using, he didn't. Not today. Not anymore. Sleep. He wanted good old fashion sleep. He'd concentrate on life-changing secrets tomorrow. Just not now. Sadly, his partner enjoyed pushing his buttons.

She poked the stubborn fool on the shoulder with the Earth Dust. "Aren't you forgetting something? The Dust? You have to absorb it or potentially die."

He flipped over and pushed the shard back. Experience taught him well. "It's fine. I'll wake up with my body hurting all over, but I'll be okay, mostly. All I need to do is absorb Dust in the morning, and everything will be peachy. I'd rather not waste Dust sleeping."

Her face contorted into a multiple of emotions. First surprise, then pity, followed by anger, and ending with a stubborn scowl.

"Like I said, a dolt."

...

Finding the crater site wasn't hard. Leaves were blown away. Trees dead with one looking as if it had been thrown. Judging from the destruction found on Jaune's clothing, and the way some of the trees were toppled over, a fierce battle took place here, and with the sun setting on edging horizon, they had little time to retrieve his weapon.

"Whoa!" Yang whistled, inspecting the damage in glee. "We missed one heck of a party. I wonder how many Grimm they fought?"

"One."

She blinked. "How can you tell?"

Blake crouched down and pointed to a single set of medium-sized footprints. "If there were more, we would've seen more sets of prints. As far as I can tell, there's only one set of prints."

"So only one Grimm did all this?" Yang grunted, teeth bared. "Must've been as tough as nails. Maybe tougher!"

Blake didn't say a word. A Grimm tougher than nails? Preposterous. That was like eating cereal without milk. No such concept existed.

"Let's just find his sword and go."

The search for the first few minutes turned up nothing, and the darkness of the mountain range edged closer. Soon the afternoon glow went from a warm, hazy orange to a crisp, winter's blue. As the temperature began to drop, Yang made her complaints known with her voice mysteriously less-Yang.

"Maybe we should've done this in the morning?"

Blake, being keen on smelling fear, smirked ever so lightly at her battle-hardened partner. "I didn't take you for one to be scared of the dark."

"I'm not scared of the dark!" Yang crossed her arms, throwing a cautious glare over her shoulder. "But how are we supposed to find a sword in this darkness? Our Scrolls only give us so much light. Tell me! I'm all ears!"

Blake's bow twitched at the sound of all ears but refrained from making a point to address it, or Yang's fear for the dark. The amber of her eyes narrowed in concentration, seeing past the blanket of lingering darkness. Obscurations painted silhouettes. Her intense searched analyzed any contours too sharp to be considered branches. Finally, something straight and narrow protruded out of a tree trunk, sticking diagonally out in the shadows.

She tapped her scaredy-cat partner on the shoulder and pointed up at a tree. "It's right there."

Yang tried to squint to see it, hopelessly outmatched. "How can you tell?"

Blake fought a grin. That was the second time her partner had asked that question. "I have excellent eyesight in the dark."

"I'll say."

"Now, how do we get it out of the tree. I could maybe wrap my ribbon around—?" Punch! The tree wobbled and snapped against her partner's knuckles, falling to the ground with a mighty thud. Blake merely glared. "Was that really necessary?"

Her answer came with Yang flexing her arms. "Can't let these guns go to waste!"

Something told Blake Belladonna Yang only smashed that tree to get to the sword faster. Afraid of the dark? Yang Xiao Long? Who would've thought? It certainly painted a pretty picture for someone so boisterous.

"Whatever." Blake walked over and pulled the sword free, surprised at how much the thing weighed. She swung it out of curiosity, finding the simplicity of such a weapon fascinating. At least some people respected the classics. "I got it, let's go."

Yang couldn't agree more.

Once they made it back to Beacon's courtyard, Blake watched the tension leave Yang's shoulders. Her ears picked up on the whispering sigh passing her lips. A fist, she hadn't even noticed, became unclenched with the girl taking a deep breath. Okay. Maybe not afraid of the dark, but an ounce of fear manifested itself somewhere, past trauma perhaps? Maybe more? Maybe nothing? Something bothered her partner when the lights went out, and it wasn't the monsters lurking in the forest. From the tales of boast she heard during their first day as her partner, Yang didn't seem the type to flinch away from a challenge.

Had to be a form of trauma.

The Huntress sighed to herself. Best to leave it buried. If Yang didn't want to talk about it, then that was it. Oum knew how much dirt she carried.

The return back to the room was anticlimactic. The terrible two slept like logs, unmistakably drained from such a long day. The sound of Yang casually tossing Jaune's substantial sword to the floor didn't stir them in their sleep. They hadn't even bothered to change out of their clothes, covered in dirt and grime. A surprise for her, but this Huntress-in-Training wisely kept her tongue-tied.

Blake smirked proudly in the open. Who knew a Schnee hugged pillows with such ferocity? Tabloid gold if she ever saw it. Trailing over to the bottom bunk, that smirk of hers turned playful. Their Charismatic Leader, the Paragon, the hope for the world and yadda-yadda, slept curled in a ball, mumbling gibberish. Must be some dream. At least between the two he didn't snore, but Weiss did, softly she might add.

"I'm taking a page out of their book!" Yang yawned and crawled into the top bunk, wrapping herself in a tight cocoon. "Night, partner."

"Night."

Ignoring Yang's fumbling with her sheets, she moved to pick up the Fire Dust crystal, getting lost in the energized glow and abnormally burning touch. Memories flashed before her. A certain someone came to mind with fiery hair. A fast moving train. Numerous Forever Fall trees. Lights. Droids. A mission. A goal. Like an everlasting nightmare, she gripped the shard and squeezed it hard. Not enough to break it, but enough to draw some blood.

This whole Mother Nature thing left a sour taste in her mouth. Not so much the concept, just its entirety.

Grumbling, the grumpy girl dropped the shard and sunk into her bed, back flat. She stared up at her partner's bunk, tapping her fingers endlessly on her stomach. Once she found time to settle down and had a moment to think, it hit her full force. World balancing? Good and evil? A Paragon for Dust's sake! Yang was right. Could anyone blame her for being the least bit skeptical?

Her head shifted to glance at her fumbling leader.

Blake still wasn't sure she believed him, but if he told the truth, then that was it. All this went beyond Faunus discrimination. Beyond the integrity of humanity and Faunus kind as a whole. Fixing this problem should solve the racism issue. It should fix everything messed up with the world. Bring balance to it. Make things better.

If what her leader said was true, then she abandoned The White Fang to join a benevolent cause. Blake immediately scoffed at the idea.

Not the best odds, but life rarely was.

"Out of the frying pan and into the fire."

...

The morning of felt just as bad as the previous three.

Agonizing.

Jaune groaned upon waking, curling himself deeper into that ball. Ribs hurt. Chest ached. A pounding in his ear ruptured painfully like a headache-inducing migraine. The sensation like someone took a crowbar and went to town on his body. Yup! Exactly like the first three days. Only now he knew he wasn't sick. Just an unfortunate byproduct of his body devouring itself from the inside out.

Dust! He needed Dust!

Breathing slowly, he tried to uncurl himself but had difficulties moving. Limbs refused to go with his stomach lurching. Not a problem. Morning jitters. Just like the other days. All he needed was some strength of will, but no Aura! Never again!

A shard of Ice Dust dropped in front of him. Sweet, merciful Dust!

He reached his hand out and drained the Dust, only now noticing its chilly properties. Ice Dust dropped his body's temperature as the fragment turned white. A glow, not too luminous, traveled from his palm to his chest, resting dead center with his body's joints becoming undone. He instantly sat and turned to his savior, finding Weiss smirking down at him from the top bunk.

"I think the words you're looking for are _thank you_."

Caught with his pants down, he did the only sensible thing a Dust lover like him could, he stuck his tongue out at the girl and rubbed his stiff neck. Ignoring her smug sense of satisfaction required more patience than he had, eventually leading up to the Arc touching her barefoot with the base of his icy hand.

"Gah!"

That earned him a swift kick to the head. He grinned nonetheless and headed for the shower, finding himself the last awake with Yang just finishing up her mandatory half-hour shower.

"What?" Yang asked, brushing her hair from the bathroom door. "No hair change? No boring attitude? What gives?"

He shrugged. "I guess there wasn't enough."

"Eh! Whatever! The shower's all yours! But don't be expecting to find any warm water!"

Remembering how in sync he felt in the rainstorm while fueled on Water Dust, he laughed. "I don't think that's gonna be a problem."

"Okay. Don't say I didn't warn you."

He brushed past her and slammed the bathroom door shut, walking over to the mirror while tugging off his hoodie. The reflection greeting him back was the snowy glow resting in his chest. Unlike the time he woke up in the infirmary, he had no bits of ice attached to his skin. Must only happen with a highly concentrated amount of Dust? Didn't explain why the effects lasted until every drop was drained versus absorbing a non-concentrated fragment of Dust, but some things favored no explanation.

Rubbing his neck, he turned on the shower, finding Yang honest above all things. Whelp! Time to experiment and see if a non-concentrated fragment of Dust rewarded him properties that an undiluted piece contained. Stepping him, he shivered instantly, but compared to past experiences with his seven sisters hogging all the hot water for themselves, this wasn't bad. Not great, but not terrible.

Decent.

Sighing, he allowed the water to scrub the dirt from his body, only now seeing how much filth he carried from that rock slide. Minutes later he stretched out, towel wrapped around his head and waist. He stood in front of the mirror again with his hand outstretched, concentrating on his palm to encase a layer of ice around his fingers. He quickly snuffled out the power, searching for his hoodie, only to find some torn edges from what might've been the rock slide or fight with that monkey Grimm.

"Great. Just perfect. This is my favorite hoodie. I wonder how much a tailor's gonna cost me to fix this?"

He grumbled and walked out of the bathroom, tossing the hoodie onto his bed. A quick peek around revealed an empty room. Where had his team escaped to? He wouldn't discover the mystery of their disappearance until after he checked the time on his Scroll. By the time he barged into Professor Port's class with his team staring smugly at the late leader, he quickly theorized payback was a jerk.

"Ah! Mr. Arc! I'm glad to see you are alright!" Professor Port laughed at the tardy student. "But please, try to make it to my class on time. It's not professional to be late."

"Sorry!"

He bowed his head and chose to sit next to Ren and Nora with Cardin hovering in the higher row. He ignored the light snickering coming from both Yang and Weiss. Girls and their grudges. At least when Nora surprised hugged him for his swift recovery, seeing her fall off her chair upon learning his freezing skin cracked a smile on his lips. Ren casually sighed but shared the notes he had missed. Cardin just laughed.

How he missed these three.

Port resumed the lesson. Quickly he got bored and started aimlessly sketching fragments of Dust into his notebook. Then shapes. Then crude faces. Then before he knew what he was painting, Mother Nature's doodled face gazed up at him, flashing that spectrum smile. Immediately he turned the page, sighing with his head lowered.

The first Paragon?

Such a concept eluded him. How was he even supposed to find these Maidens if Mother Nature herself didn't know where they were? Remnant was a big place. Too big for one team to go blindly search for four myths. To think Mother Nature expect them to find these Maidens. No. They needed a plan. Something—anything to give them a head start!

Ren tapped him on his shoulder. "Hey? Are you okay? Do you need to go back to the infirmary?"

Jaune shifted up and smiled at his kindness but shook his head. "Nah. I'm still waking up. It's been a long couple of days. You don't have to worry. I'm fine now."

Ren smirked, pointing his pencil to Nora's growing frown. A frown directed at the stunned leader. "It's not me that's worried over your health."

He chuckled awkwardly, grinning innocently at the angry Nora. He redirected his gaze back to Port and his wondrous tales while pretending her heated glare didn't burn his freezing skin. Yup. Perfectly peachy. Nothing wrong with this Arc.

Shifting his attention away, he opened a new page in his notebook and planned. Blake had a point. How were they going to travel across Remnant and find these Maidens? Finding them already proved heart thumping, but continental travel? Yeah, no. This Dust nerd hadn't a clue. So far all he managed to scribble down in a few minutes of mindless brainstorming was hijack a Bullhead, drop out of school, or disappear from the public eye.

All bad ideas. All too out there for anyone not to notice them. Weiss' status presented a challenge. The Heiress of the Schnee Dust Company just up and dropped out of school? That drew too much attention. Disappear? Worse! No. Things were complicated. Blake and Yang seemed ordinary, but what classified as average anymore, anyway?

Nope!

The best course of action was to do nothing and wait for an idea or opportunity to present itself.

...

Doctor Oobleck talked just as fast as he remembered. Quick. Precise. Oobleck. Must be the coffee? No wonder adults kept that stuff to themselves. Strong stuff. He quietly imagined what Ruby or Nora would be liking drinking a shot of espresso, the horror, but Oobleck's quick-moving personality left little room for imagination to grow when busy notetaking. The doctor hadn't even welcomed his return. Good.

So far his experience with doctors left a sour taste in his mouth.

Scribbling down like a madman, he every so often peeked down at his chest to check up on his remaining Dust. Each time the Dust's glow diminished between the intervals he looked. Each time the urge to absorb some of the neighboring students' Dust—those that carried any—grew. What a torment! No wonder ignorance was bliss.

Huffing, he settled into the groove of impossibly following his professor's lesson, mumbling. "Ignore it, Jaune, just ignore it."

"Stop being weird."

He heard the whisper. He turned to the smirking perpetrator. Once again he forgot Yang chose to sit next to him, only this time she knew why he was acting weird. Still didn't stop her from jabbing him with teasing remarks, but this time he was ready and smirked right back at the predator.

"Stop eavesdropping, weirdo."

Yang prepared a few sarcastic quips, but a shadow loomed over the thundering blonds. This darkness leaned down, glaring through impossibly shiny specs, and the two gulped from the imposing Aura. Before an argument was made on their behalf, two slips of papers fell on their desks with the judge, jury, and executioner frowning at the two troublemakers.

"Miss Xiao Long! Mr. Arc! I warned you two last time! Saturday detention! Both you! Now pay attention!"

Doctor Oobleck zoomed away, leaving the two rascals to pick up their detention slips. They sighed together, glaring at the other with Yang burning up and Jaune dropping a few degrees. Steam formed between them.

"I blame you."

"That's funny because I blame you."

"Don't think I won't hand out two detentions!"

They swiftly shuffled apart and buried their noses in their notebooks, scribbling down everything and anything Professor Oobleck lectured. Across from them, Ruby giggled with Weiss sighing. Detention during the first week did not make Team ABYS look good.

Having two members in detention looked worse!

...

The Mess Hall acted like a busy little beehive with students flocking for that sweet nectar, and by sweet nectar he meant food. Food meant fuel for the average organism. Organism included both Faunus and human. Sadly, that fuel meant nothing when compared to the intricate workings of a Dust-Dust Human. He required Dust, not just only food, and while he wasn't starving on a Dust shortage, the weakening glow resting in his chest shuddered his nerves.

That didn't stop Yang from trying to beat weakness with sheer willpower, purposely selecting his lunch again.

She offered him no choice on the matter and slammed down a tray of meats, butt-bumping him to make space on the table. Across from them, their respected partners glared, troubled that their partners had Saturday detention. Weiss didn't need the gossip. Blake didn't need the eyes. Team ABYS currently couldn't afford either of those.

Yang pushed his tray of meats and vegetables into his side, grinning wolfishly. "So what's the plan, Plant Boy? How are hitting up Remnant?"

Plant Boy groaned, finding his food lacking in appeal. "I'm still working on it."

Yang noticed him not eating and frowned. She stabbed the steak, poking his cheek with medium-rare goodness. "Eat."

"I need more than just food, Yang. I need Dust."

"Eat now and worry about that later. We can't save the world on an empty stomach."

"But this will only put me at half tank."

 _Jab_!

"Eat."

"Fine! Give that fork! Weirdo." Jaune grumbled, snatching the fork out of her hand. He slipped the food in and chewed loudly. "There! Happy now?"

She smirked. "Don't talk with your mouth full."

"Eating habits aside..." Weiss trailed, playing with her food. "What are we going to do about your Dust withdrawals? Prices have only gone up due to recent robberies, and travel from Vale and back would be troublesome."

Her partner sighed. "Tell me about, I mean, if I look around the Mess Hall, I can feel all the Dust around that anyone's carrying and absorb it, but I can't."

"Can't?" Blake asked.

"Won't!" Jaune reaffirmed, tone steadily cold. "It wouldn't be right. I don't want to steal other people's Dust. They spent and worked on it, too. And what if they're fighting some Grimm and end up dying because they thought they had spare Dust when they didn't? I don't want that on my conscious."

"Well, you gotta do something, Jaune? We can't have you up and passing out on us when you're running on empty." Yang stared at Weiss, twirling her fork at the Heiress. "What about you, Princess? Got any Dust to spare for our poor leader."

Weiss dabbed a napkin to her lips, glaring coolly. "Some, but I require the rest for Myrtenaster. I apologize for the inconvenience."

He laughed while stabbing his food. "Don't worry about it, Weiss. I'll figure something out."

She tightly frowned at the comment but said nothing more on the subject and dipped her fork into her creamy dessert. Yang snorted, elbowing the leader that eventually led up to a competition of elbow shoving between the fool-hearted blonds. Only Blake regarded his true feelings into account, hiding a small smile behind her tuna-fish sandwich. All that power and not once did her leader feel like stealing from others? Yes. She made the right decision back at the train.

...

Twenty minutes into Dust class and Weiss and Jaune finished their assignment for the week, lounging lazily at their desk with spare shards of Dust needed for the experiment. Grunts echoed into the pristine, but elemental scorched lab with frustration painstakingly clear across the hopelessly lost students.

"Whelp!" Jaune muttered, balancing a shard of Fire Dust between his finger. "I guess Dust class is useful for something."

Weiss humphed, busy refilling Myrtenaster to pay him much attention. "While being allowed to keep any spare Dust not used in our experiments is indeed fortunate, it's not a long-term solution to your problem."

He huffed but agreed. Any spares weren't exactly plentiful. Not to mention most were weak due to their volatile nature. So to limit classroom destruction, Professor Peach kept Dust samples relatively weak for experiment use. Jaune almost laughed at the thought. Only three days ago the idea of keeping extra Dust brought a smile to his lips, but now it taunted him with his frailty. Still, he appreciated the opportunity and gripped the spare fire shards grateful.

 _Zap_!

Blinking, the two turned to see Pyrrha Nikos covered head-to-toe in electrical burns and soot with a small wisp of smoke burning on the tip of her head. Ruby Rose stood before her, laughing awkwardly, pressing her index fingers together with Yang groaning somewhere in the background.

Hn? Maybe he'd have to rethink his policy on not absorbing someone else's Dust. Bullet rounds for Ruby? Perfectly fine! Anything not in that shape? Nope! Heck! Jaune bet if she walked into a Dust shop, something terrible might happen, like, oh, he didn't know, the place getting robbed. An amusing thought for sure.

Turning back to his spare Dust shard, the leader dropped the shard and frowned. The smart thing to do was absorb his Fire Dust and combine it with this one. The experimental route, on the other hand, demanded he merged this shard of fire with his draining Ice Dust to materialize Smoke Dust again. Something to do. Something to expand his horizons on the mechanics of unknown Dust. Just something different.

Weiss must've noticed his hesitation because she stopped working on her weapon to pluck the Ember Dust out of his pocket. "You're not going to merge them?"

He shoved it back and grinned. "Nah, I want to mix them. Experiment. Create more Smoke Dust!"

"And why would you want more of that Dust? It's hazardous to our health! You left our room in a layer of smoke last time."

"Ah, it's not that bad. Think about it! Imagine using Smoke Dust as a distraction or cover? It has its uses." Jaune paused, holding the shard up. "Or maybe I'll just absorb this piece and have both fire and ice within me."

"You can do that?"

He winced. "Not exactly. A highly concentrated fragment of Dust pretty much occupies all the space in my body. These fragmented weaker charged shards can share space, but I'm guessing no hair change as a payoff. And perhaps other stuff too that I just haven't realized yet."

She blinked once, and then twice. "Hold on? Dust requires space in your body?"

He sighed. "I'll explain it later."

She bit her lip but accepted the answer, and honestly, she should've noticed his lack of absorbing. All that potential and her partner never formerly consumed more than one concentrated fragment of Dust at a time, even when he carried a pocket full of Dust. Made sense the more she thought about it, but that also left another question to hang in the air.

What about his supposed ability to give power—to give Aura? So far he hadn't tapped into that ability, at least as far as she knew. Maybe asking him would clear things up?

"And your ability to supposedly give Aura? How does that work?"

He paused, straightened his body, and then shrug. "I don't... know. I'm not entirely sure."

"Is there a possibility you've already done it?"

Before answering with a solid no, he stopped to think hard about it. Mother Nature said he could only give Aura, never use it. His fight with Yang attested to that. Like his now nonexistent healing factor. Aura reversed zero damage. So he couldn't use his Aura, well, no, that wasn't accurately true.

Aura was required to produce Dust shards from Dust stored in his body, but that might attribute to the whole giving Aura gimmick of his Dust-Dust abilities. That process heavily resembled photosynthesis, turning energy to life and yadda-yadda, and the only other instance where he vaguely recalled giving was when he pushed instead of pulled upon some Wind Dust in the Bullhead transporting them to Beacon Academy during their first day. What a wild ride that turned out to be.

Hn? Perhaps that pushing sensation warranted further research.

"Maybe?" Jaune finally answered. "There was this one time in the Bullhead when I forced some Wind Dust in this guy's pocket to go off. Maybe that had something to do with giving my Aura?"

She hummed. "Ah, yes, I recall that incident in the—hold on just a minute! That happened because of you?!" Weiss suddenly grabbed him by the treads of his hoodie, pulling him uncomfortably close to her pointy nose. "I was on that airship! Do you have any idea what kind of heart attack you almost gave me? I ended up with motion sickness because of you!"

He tried to escape her hold, but to no avail and merely held his hands out in beaming surrender. "Hey, hey, cut a guy some slack. I just got the powers at the time. I didn't know what I was doing."

Her frown stretched, the steel in her eyes sharpened, her Aura flared, and her skin flushed in wrath, but she released him and humphed. "You still don't."

That harmless grin grew. "And that's why I'm lucky to have you as a partner to help me figure it all out. Without you, I'm screwed."

Her features intensified. "And don't you forget it."

...

 _Sigh_.

Jaune Arc rubbed his neck in the sanctum of the locker rooms, counting backward from ten. Crocea Mors laid beside him, shield close. Combat class, the place where his adventure started. The secrets. The lies. That embarrassment. All of it stemmed from this class. Not by his choice, but life rarely threw a fastball. Now it was time to face the crowd again.

Anyway, time to fight!

Huffing, he focused on the glows of the two Dust elements resting in his body, fire, and ice, and merged them to create a single shard of Smoke Dust. He pocketed it away shortly after and headed out to fight his opponent, Ruby. The cinnamon reaper waited outside in the ring, grinning like a hungry predator that had just spotted fresh prey with her overly inflated gardening tool hanging off her hip. The moment he stepped into the ring, he felt all eyes on him, no doubt wondering to see if he planned to faint again. Jaune ignored them enough. Helped that their combination of Dust glows made him want to avoid their presence, even if the glow's luminosity appeared to have dimmed since the last time he looked. Hn? That was worth looking into later.

Miss Dust for Dummies herself carried an exceptional amount of fire rounds, most likely keeping extra ammunition tucked away for emergency use.

"Are you ready to get your butt kicked, Jaune!" Ruby shouted, vigorous. Unquestionably Yang's sister.

He answered that question by reaching into his pocket and fishing out for any Dust shard, pulling out Gravity Dust. The shard quickly lost its coloring, turning white with him absorbing its nutrients like dirt to a plant. Strands of his hair floated up, defying gravity. A calm, cool, collective level-headedness overcame him, drowning out emotions with a neutral demeanor rivaling that of Lie Ren.

Common sense and practical judgment replaced the leader, and he regarded his opponent with no interest, more fascinated with the ant crawling past his shoe. Crocea Mors felt incredibly light in his hand, both sword and shield, and he hardly noticed them. When he heard her grunt, he looked up to find himself in the obstacle of adorable fury. Ruby couldn't wait for the match to begin.

Without a doubt Yang's baby sister.

Professor Goodwitch coughed. "Good to have you back, Mr. Arc. I trust you're in better health now?"

He offered her the best eye smile he had. "All better now, professor."

"Very well... begin!"

His emotions abandoned him, and Ruby rushed forward, turning into a tornado of red petals. His shield quickly intercepted her trajectory, fighting force against torque. Stuck fighting the red corkscrew with his shield, he shrugged and strived his first attempt with Gravity Dust, swinging his sword from underneath to strike. She used her spinning velocity to travel up his guard, resting the soles of her boots on top of the buffer with her scythe aimed directly for his chest.

She weighed distinctly that of a feather.

Neutral about it, he released his shield, and she wobbled in place, an advantage of being tall, suddenly losing traction, even more so when he kicked the plating of his armor to throw off her center of balance. His shield flew across the ring, much further than he had anticipated for such a hollow kick, and she fell flat on her butt. His lack of emotions allowed him to focus entirely on Ruby's stumble, dashing forward with his blade ready to knick some of her Aura. She rolled out of the way just in time.

Of course, she would.

She spun on her heel, crashing her weapon to the floor to aim her sniper at his prone position. Shots fired. He had little choice but to block with his sword, forced to backtrack to cover some distant. Ruby easily capitalized on that and aimed for the crossguard of his blade, dislodging his sword from his hand. The smirk behind her scope was the only warning the defenseless Arc was given.

Desperate, he threw his arms out, palms flat to act as a shield.

 _Fire_!

The shot missed.

Looking up, he found the scorch mark on the wall from where Ruby's bullet trajectory traveled, calm. He slowly turned back, with his palms still thrown flat out, to find the adorable reaper struggling to lift her weapon off the floor. No matter how strenuously she put her back into it, the scythe wouldn't yield an inch. The out-of-place scene prompted Jaune to move his arms back a smudge.

Ruby, in turn, managed to lift her scythe a bit.

Composed, he retracted his arms much further back, palms still flat, and the scythe abruptly lost most of its weight, like paper, and she almost suffered from terrible footing after discovering how weightless Crescent Rose felt and not expecting it in the slightest. Throughout the experimental display, he felt his Gravity Dust reserves dropping, but he figured out Gravity Dust's characteristic properties.

Weight allocation.

"That's useful."

Oh, Ruby was rushing at him again? How upsetting. "Now I've got you!"

She came at him like a speeding torpedo with Crescent Rose posed to do some explosive damage while acting as the torpedo's head. Unable to maneuver out of the way, he focused on her body and hoped to Dust this would work, pulling his flat palms back in the shape of a hug. She hadn't a clue to what he was planning, picking up speed but unable to stop, and when she crashed into his body, she panicked—what if she seriously hurt Jaune—but her thinking momentum entirely stopped.

Along with her body.

Gravity and weight were interchangeable variables all part of the same system. The higher the gravity, the heavier the weight. Weight equaled mass multiplied by gravitational acceleration.

Simple.

However, if the gravity constant were to be taken away, then the weight of an object lowered, and if there were to be zero gravity, then any force from a propelling, weightless object would be negligible to an imposing force of significant weight. An equal and opposite reaction might occur between the two objects, but the opposing force of the weighted object beat the weightless one, unless the object moved at a quick enough pace. It didn't. Not nearly fast enough to compensate for the sudden weight loss.

Such an example existed between Ruby Rose and Jaune Arc.

By using his Dust-Dust abilities, he removed Ruby's acceleration of gravity, rendering it zero, thus diminishing her opposing force to negligible levels. This was how she ended up being bearhugged to death between Jaune's arms when her spinning vortex of doom failed her, struggling to break free with the sudden gravity or weight of his arms overpowering her lithe body. Poor Crescent Rose fell out of her hands via impact, leaving her weaponless.

"Gah!" Ruby moaned, fighting fruitlessly in his hold. "Let me go! Let me go! Let! Me! Go!"

He offered her a simple eye smile. "Nope."

He sighed internally. By squeezing her in a hug, he had aimed his palms directly at himself once he captured her, increasing his weight from the thrust forward. She had zero chance of escaping. Not with his abnormal weight. Not to mention he had a good foot over her size. Just another advantage of being tall.

Nodding, he began turning around toward the arena ring. Once it became clear he planned to toss her out the ring like a sack of potatoes, she started kicking him in the legs with all her adorable rage. Really, Ruby? Kicking? How embarrassing.

"No! No! No! No! No! Not like this, Jaune!"

He ignored her. Ignored her shouting in his ears and promptly dropped her at the edge of the ring, purposely adding a generous portion of Gravity Dust to her boots to keep her from escaping her loss at the last possible second. She tried, too. Oh, Ruby tried her darn hardest but ended up crashing her body against the floor when the weight of her boots miscalculated the force she needed to escape, face first.

"Winner, Jaune Arc!"

* * *

 **Author Notes:** If RWBY can have floating islands, then I'm going to ignore the gravity constant with the basis of Gravity Dust. Oh, and happy Birth-Free Candy Day, Rubes.


End file.
